In fact, self-destructiveness is the first of human weaknesses. When we know all the ways in which we can be self-destructive that will be very valuable knowledge indeed.
- Agnes Martin
This project is an eight day performative exploration of waste aesthetics as a result of habitual indulgence in addictive substances. It is a meditation on self-destructive tendencies and notions of failure as an artist and human being.
"This set of 16 ovals and circles neatly arranged in a repetitious pattern appears clean, orderly, even pleasant at first glance. The design conjures up images of geological display cases, scientific specimens, and especially 19th century miniature portraiture. As we look closer, we realize that his is not so clean or pleasant, but it is in a way certainly a kind of portraiture. For 8 days, artist Aaron Wilder created a ritualized documentation that pondered continual personal struggles with tabacco and alcohol addiction. These ritualized activities are meant to numb feelings of failure and self-hatred, while in reality perpetuating these self-fulfilling prophecies. Not all rituals in our lives are positive, but it is the ritualized connection to the activity that can make them so hard to abandon."
-Sarah Bernhardt, Executive Director of Intersect Arts Center and curator of the exhibition Ritual, May-September, 2021
