LUMPERS AND SPLITTERS, 2015. LARGE SCALE PRINT SERIES. PIGMENT PRINTS ON ARCHIVAL PAPER. DIMENSIONS VARIABLE. APPROXIMATELY 70X50"
The term lumpers and splitters is used in may fields of study from biology to software modeling to philosophy. It describes two opposing ways of classifying the same thing creating a lumper-splitter dilemma. A lumper is an individual who sees a gestalt view something whereas the splitter likes to break that something into pieces and lists of sub-categories.
Lumpers and Splitters is a series of large format printed works. The images are taken from the internet. All images are of large crowds or gatherings, so far none religious but typically from sporting events or concerts. They are created using desktop prints and manipulated through collage by hand, tape, knife, and scissor. The objective is to remove the spectacle or event that the crowd has gathered and pasting the crowd themselves back over the spectacle. The collages are scanned in high resolution and then printed as large format pigment prints. When looking at these prints an initial reaction of disbelieve and awe at the scale of the gathering arises but as one sits with the image they can see the cut or tape marks, which leads to the realization that the images have been manipulated. The tell of manipulation points to intension, and the intension points to a new way of seeing a mass gathering and perhaps even group think. The prints stand as an agitator - challenging one’s affective response to groups, gatherings, and celebration. It is perhaps a matter of trust, culture, and identity that promotes reaction of agoraphobia to solidarity.