I equate the abstraction of material to the process used in creating etchings and then pressing ink or aquatint (powder pressing technique) from the metal slap onto another material, canvas. The scrapping, or distortion of the metal reminds me of the processes of abstraction used by Viking Egeling and Hans Richter in their early experimental works of visual music and abstract film when they would cut out shapes and paint directly onto film stock, altering the material to present varied imagery to the audience. Ed Ruscha’s Blank Signs (2004) is a great example of the use of abstraction to convey thoughts associated to disassociation and ‘mind wandering’, two ideas closely associated to abstract art and studies on form. Gregory Minissale expands on this idea in his book Rhythm in Art, Psychology and New Materialism, stating ‘Mind Wandering is a form of abstraction involved in both the production and reception of abstract art. Mind wandering – involuntary non-logical thought – creates rhythmic connections between abstract art and abstract thought.’ (Minissale, 2021, pp. 12-13). Process and rhythmic thought associated to the creation of abstract artworks bridge the gap between representation, matter, and interaction.

Clear imagery presenting signage in what appears to be a desert environment allows for the audience to make associations to personal memories or attributes associated to the empty shapes, and it also allows for breath digesting the work of art. The subtraction and reduction that takes place in this work allows for me to analyze and digest it in my own psyche, not tethered to any preconceived notions about the definition of the environment or space represented in the context of these works from Ruscha.