Portfolio > Sculpture

Family Process Theory: You’re so much more than a few bad habits.
I often find inspiration in the social science of family process theory. I am particularly drawn to information regarding the role of distance regulation within the family, and between larger social systems, as a prominent factor in determining behavior. This distance regulation helps the family maintain its integrity as a unit and binds the individual members of the unit together. “Patrolling the perimeter,” is the term used to describe the family’s pushing at the boundaries while simultaneously defining those boundaries and themselves.
The electric carving knives are arranged on the wall in social groupings, some as family units, others as individuals and small groups. Social hierarchies and designations of dominance or submission are created by the physical sizes of the knives and their positions on the wall. When viewers infringe upon the arbitrary social boundary, determined by a motion sensor, the knives respond in a cacophonous rage.