Dane Winkler: Spaceship Earth

In Spaceship Earth, Winkler explores the possibilities of an otherworldly homestead. How would an industry in another place function in comparison with a farm? What would the development of these practices leave behind as remnants or proof of their past? Winkler explores these ideals through large-scale interactive sculptures that hint at peculiar machines vaguely reminiscent of artifacts here on earth. Using materials and ideas that reference both manufacturing and life on the farm, he compares and contrasts these notions.

The title Spaceship Earth encompasses many layers of meaning - the earth as a vessel of finite resources, a reminder of our abridged lifespan as passengers, and the curiosity of the rest of its expansive territory. The objects in the gallery feel as though they could have served a purpose in a world similar to our own, yet their duty is a mystery, causing them to feel ethereal.

The work describes things like vessels of travel, mark-making tools, or agricultural product. Bodily in scale, each defines an uncanny resemblance or calling to an existing product, left undescribed for the viewer’s contemplation.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.