artist statement for final group project

Toothbrush Specimens
Everything in life has a certain cycle. As an organic species, when we expire, we decay and become part of the earth again. Toothbrushes have a cycle as well, but when their cycle is done they are tossed in the trash and forgotten about. As humans we must be healthy to sustain life. Toothbrushes in a sense keep us alive because they are tools to keep us healthy and develop good hygiene. This project is an ode to these wonderful products. Toothbrushes serve us and (hopefully) are part of every person’s lives. Even though the act of brushing your teeth is so common, it is also a private and personal act. Our project puts on display something that not everyone gets to see, the used toothbrushes of our peers. We are now able to study these products that were once private, the dates indicate the life cycle of the toothbrushes. These toothbrushes will not be thrown out but put on display so that one can wonder about the user, and how these products contribute to our lives.


and paper proposal

Toothbrush Graveyard

Concept: This piece will play with the concept of death. The project will have toothbrushes on display at the end of their cycle with the name of the user and the dates of it's life span. This will create a sense of a graveyard. I want to play with the idea that as human beings we are all so very different and individual but we can relate through certain things and habits that we all share like brushing our teeth everyday or the sheer fact that we are alive and biological creatures. Everyday we use these products that are a necessity for our health and general hygiene, and a product like a toothbrush when it gets to a point is no longer useful to us and all though was a part of our everyday routine for however long (I think that I had my used toothbrush for around 3 years) we just toss them in the trash and open a brand new toothbrush. Our used toothbrushes had in a sense kept us healthy and able to be alive, this project is an ode to these beloved products.

Process: I am going to ask the four labs in Art 108 and maybe the other 108 labs to donate their used toothbrushes for this project. I would like to get as many used toothbrushes as possible so I may even ask some of my other classes and put a post on my facebook to have my friends donate. I would like to put the name of the donor and the dates that the toothbrush was in service under the toothbrush with a label maker. I realize that this may be hard to do since the donors are probably going to anonymous or maybe don't want to give the information because they are embarrassed about the condition of the used toothbrush or of how long they have had it. I may have to make up the dates and the names and I don't think that if I did it would render the concept.

Installation: The installation will consist of a wooden board with used toothbrushes, that will holes drilled into them so they can be nailed to the board, and the name of the donor and the dates used underneath the used toothbrush. I would like the wooden board to be the same size as the installation case that would be assigned to me, and would like to have as many used toothbrushes as possible.

Items that will be used
- Wooden board (dimensions will be known later)
- used toothbrushes donated by students
- drill
- nails
- label maker and label maker tape