Refuge - Hidden Stories of the American Suburb, 2018

An exhibition at Cumulus Project Space in Kansas City, MO, curated by Michaela Carmen.

In the 2018 exhibition entitled "Refuge - Hidden Stories of the American Suburb," hosted at Cumulus Project Space in Kansas City, my artistic inquiry delves into sociocultural and physiological ramifications of sleep deprivation as a mechanism to enhance human "effectiveness" in the workplace. This exhibition is a critical platform to interrogate the systemic imperatives prioritizing productivity over well-being, thereby contributing to a culture of exhaustion antithetical to notions of health optimization.

The exhibition's focal point is a curated series of portraits that document individuals who have been adversely affected by societal pressures to reduce sleep for the sake of workplace efficiency. These portraits aim to capture the palpable fatigue experienced by the subjects, thereby offering a visual critique of how systems of exhaustion are incongruent with our cultural paradigms that ostensibly prioritize health and well-being.

One particularly striking aspect of the exhibition is the inclusion of research conducted by the U.S. Defense Department on the White Crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia Leucophrys). This avian species is, remarkably, able to remain awake for extended periods—up to seven days—during migratory cycles. Funded with substantial financial resources, the research aimed to explore the potential applicability of these findings to human subjects, with the ultimate objective of reducing the necessity for sleep. My work critically examines such research endeavors' ethical and sociological implications, emphasizing the human stories often overshadowed by scientific inquiry.

This multi-layered exhibition aims to contribute to academic and public discourse on the intersections of labor, health, and societal expectations. The project serves as a visual and intellectual exploration, inviting viewers to engage in a nuanced interpretive process that extends beyond the immediate aesthetic experience to encompass broader ethical, sociopolitical, and physiological considerations. Thus, "Refuge-Hidden Stories of the American Suburb" functions as a complex intertextual dialogue that intersects the personal, the political, and the scientific, offering a comprehensive understanding of the intricate processes that shape our contemporary reality.