Upside down Man

 

2014

plaster, pigment

 

 

Upside down Man is the formal result of a man’s body literally being forced inside itself upside down.

 

To create the work, I generated a complex series of mold making and casting steps. From the full body life cast of my friend John’s body, two molds were made–a rigid plaster mold, and a highly flexible latex skin. Tvvhe latex mold was placed upside down within the hollow of the rigid mold. The latex arms, with strings at each finger tip, stretched in the legs and feet of the rigid mold, and the latex feet stretched into the space of the hands. The latex nose was pulled into the cock, the mouth into the balls. Once all the parts were stretched into their improper places, 400lbs. of plaster was poured into the latex body sac through its asshole, now where the head should be, and the pressure of the liquid plaster pressed the skin against the inside of the rigid mold. The resulting form took on John’s overall shape, even as all specific body parts were in the wrong places.