The Mundane
2016-2022
2016-2022
As a way to enrich the everyday with joy and humor, I create objects and interventions that distort seemingly mundane features of the built world. This home-made backwards exit sign,
whose function is negated by the amount of options, serves as a guidepost to nowhere. Too many options. The vertical post was created in collaboration with my
grandfather and photographed in the Rocky Mountain wilderness near Alma, CO. The inspiration for these works derives from the environment and infrastructure at my job-sites, going day-in and day-out. These ordinary icons: credit cards, exit signs, hand-written notes, traffic cones, calendars, and inspirational posters, are distorted through a hand-made process (like ceramics). The labor embeds these mundane objects with an existential abundance of time and labor.
Souvenir Panoramas
As a reflection on moving one’s life across the country, I created a series of souvenir panoramas to document the wide vistas I had encountered.
At my industrial work-site I would see this angry sign telling people not to leave garbage in the hallway of the industrial building. Using a cnc router, I made a woodblock print of the sign, and replaced the original handwritten note with an artisanal gold block printed version of the note. Pictured here is the print installed with similar looking packing tape where the original sign used to be. In my public facing work, this is a subtle surreal distortion in my environment by replacing and working on a forgettable object.
Odd One Out, 10 x 10 x 28 in., Traffic Cone, Plaster, Cement, Paint. 2011
Traffic Cones
In 2011 I took a traffic cone, covered it in cement and plaster, and repainted back to look like a traffic cone. I then left it with it’s brethren, down by the Brooklyn Queens Expressway.
Ann?, 14 x 11 in., Signed Photo Print in Found Frame, 2019
Please Move, 19 x 21 in., Signed Photo Print in Found Frame, 2019
Like Paint, 16 x 12 in., Signed Photo Print in Found Frame, 2019
Not Sure, 16 x 12 in., Signed Photo Print in Found Frame, 2019
Yeah, 12 x 16 in., Signed Photo Print in Found Frame, 2019
Up and Down, 14 x 11 in., Photo Print in Found Frame, 2019
From what I’ve observed, historic artists tend to overflow with inspirational quotes. If I am seeking to be a great artist someday, perhaps I need to generate noteworthy quotes from my life. To embed these into the greater society, I created a series of inspirational posters. These posters were signed and placed in found frames, to give the appearance of homeliness. I donated these pictures to a thrift store, so that someone somewhere might think this Britt person was important.
Task Calendar, 12 x 16 in., Digital C-Print, 2022
A Memory, 22 x 28 in., Digital C-Print, 2022
Peeling Back, 12 x 16 in., Digital C-Print, 2022
I work a manufacturing job glazing dinnerware. At my job-site, there’s a paper U-Line calendar on the wall. I photographed it, printed it out to scale, hung the print in the original’s place, and then re-photographed it, this time including my own image. In this second print I added a power strip, and digitally inserted elements of post-analog life onto the calendar. The result is a mix of reality and falsehoods.
West Coast TIXE, 11 x 8 x 2 in., Porcelain, Glaze, Underglaze, 2018
East Coast TIXE, 11 x 8 x 2 in., Porcelain, Glaze, Underglaze, 2018
TIXE, 11 x 8 x 2 in., Stoneware, Glaze, Underglaze, 2017
Rock Tixe, 11 x 8 x 2 in., Porcelain, Earthenware, Stoneware, 2018
Exit Signs
I manufactured my own Exit signs from ceramic clay. Somehow I may have gotten the lettering backwards. These ubiquitous objects are recognizable, no matter which way the text faces. I cast them in porcelain and marbleized stoneware, making them a bit more precious.
Radiant Sun Card
15 x 9 x .5 in., Glazed Ceramic, 2016
Parking Lot Card, 13 x 9 x .5 in., Glazed Ceramic, 2017
Gatekeeping Card
14 x 10 x .5 in., Glazed Ceramic, 2017
Cracked Card, 14 x 10 x .75 in., Glazed Ceramic with Egyptian Paste Inlay, 2017
Cracked Chip
6 x 6 x .75 in., Porcelain And Slip Inlay, 2017
Tie Dye Card, 14 x 10 in., Glazed Ceramic, 2017
Birthday Cake Card, 18 x 12 x 1 in., Stoneware and Slip, 2017
My home-made oversized ceramic credit cards are fictional remnants from an ancient capitalist civilization. The materials are stoneware, porcelain, and Egyptian Paste: a self-glazing ceramic material developed in antiquity. These objects will persist long after I am gone, and are intended to be a fun puzzle for future archeologists.