FOR PRESS

Precautionary Measures is a site-specific installation that reimagines the aesthetics of caution and containment through the lens of craft, labor, and institutional display. Housed within a series of glass vitrines at the Chicago Athletic Association, the piece features 3-dimensional wooden  "caution tape" arranged in deliberate, striking and coiling configurations. These handcrafted replicas stand in for objects typically associated with speed, disposability, and urgency. Because of their haphazard construction, they may shift and deteriorate throughout the exhibition period. At the base of the installation, ceramic extension cords rest coiled and inert, offering another subtle contradiction between appearance and utility.

By replacing mass-produced safety materials with fragile, labor-intensive objects, the work reflects on the performance of precaution and the ambiguity of boundaries. What does it mean to signal danger with care? Or to install a warning where no threat exists? Works like these are best installed by the person who made them. 

The installation builds on my ongoing interest in workplace signage, tool culture, and the aesthetics of risk. Referencing Bruce Nauman’s use of studio residue and architectural space as both material and metaphor, Precautionary Measures becomes a sculptural double-take. It invites viewers to question what counts as functional, what counts as finished, and how display alters meaning. The vitrine, in this context, acts as both a frame and a barrier, turning a provisional gesture into a permanent fixture.