Linda Warren Gallery installation shot

a project based on the Declaration of Independence

"... We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness -- That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, "

Ah the Declaration of Independence, mine, yours, ours; that quaint little document of yesteryear still has power. There was a certain eagerness of Revolutionary War era Americans to be recognized for their know-how. They fancied themselves reasonable men, and could be convinced, with sufficient evidence, to change their minds. The document is, above all, an appeal to the spirit of change through reason, even allowing for its own now vaulted phrases to be cast off for ones better serving The People's needs. Let us heed Jefferson's warnings against worshipping our handiwork at the cost of its idea. Should you find the Lilliputian republic I have created either sufficient or lacking in its essential service to the public good, I invite you, as a good citizen to give assent, dissent, or quiet indifference to the hovering concrete mass suspended over the republic. Come, People, to Linda's parlor and activate my vision of what Gore Vidal called Jefferson's Great Daydream, and I pledge to you not to take my own handiwork too seriously, but rather to relish the cumulative result of your human power upon the mechanisms produced in honor of a document that allows for its own destruction, should it prove necessary for the Public Good.

Conrad Freiburg 2008

"He has refused his Assent..."

"He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good."2008

An intricate system of conveyances all stem from the king preventing the vertical ascent of the steel balls. Depending on the pressure and finnese of the viewers usage a ball may have a leisurely roll, a ski ball jump, a trip to the accumulator, or a fall into the pit for dead soldiers where there is no escape.

Materials: American Hardwoods (red oak, and poplar), hometown limestone, string, brass, steel balls, re-furbished fragments of the Slipping Glimpser, human power.

22 1/2" x 34 1/2" x 10"

"That mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable..."

"...that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable..." 2008

A hefty concrete block rolls incessantly over balls which have little prospect for escape from thier hither and tither heavy existence.

Materials: American hardwoods (red oak and poplar), concrete, chain, steel balls, rope, brass, human power.

20" x 35" x 10

"...than to right themselves by abolishing the forms..."

"...than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed." 2008

the viewer can abolish the concrete with the given hammer which rests on a pyramid representing life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. a track of balls looks from above on the eventual pulbverizing of the block.

Materials: American hardwoods (red oak, poplar, and ash), wire rope, hammer, bolt, brass, steel balls, human power

28 1/2" x 25" x 11"

"He has called together legislative bodies..."

"He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures." 2008

This complex device elicits frustration even to the gentle user who may find that mechanical workings seem a little too delicate for the task, and to cause further frustration the good viewer might begin to realize that the target is forever unattainable.

Materials: American hardwoods (red oak, poplar), brass, copper, string, hometown limestone, human power

22" x 35" x 12 1/2"

"He has called together legislative bodies..."

"He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures." 2008

This complex device elicits frustration even to the gentle user who may find that mechanical workings seem a little too delicate for the task, and to cause further frustration the good viewer might begin to realize that the target is forever unattainable.

Materials: American hardwoods (red oak, poplar), brass, copper, string, hometown limestone, human power

22" x 35" x 12 1/2"

"He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly..."

"He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people." 2008

This peculiar contrivance is designed to accumulate the balls in little flapper trays whereby the king shape disturber is used to disperse the gathering groups. A delicate hand coupled with aggitation is needed to raise the balls to the upper trays.

Materials: American hardwoods (red oak, poplar), string, brass, magnet, hometown limestone, human power

22" x 35" x 10 1/2"

"He has kept among us, in times of peace..."

"He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures." 2008

A Ball can be flung to three tiers where it may go on peacefull strolls through the box only to be interrupted by redcoat blockheads in the path. There are two spirals and one track whereby the ball can stand to rest until compelled by a swing like momentum to move along.

Materials: American hardwoods (red oak, poplar), brass, rope, acrylic paint, human power

22 1/2" x 34 1/2" x 10"

"He has affected to render the Military..."

"He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power."2008

You may notice in this device that there are no mechanical parts. The balls are encapsulated in a prison type box suspended from the king and cannon shapes. Looking upon it one might observe the cannons are aimed right at you and there there is a slightly anthropogenic quality to the whole box.

Materials: red oak, poplar, steel balls, rope, brass

22' x 25" x 10"

"For protecting them, by a mock trial..."

"...For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States..." 2008

the balls accumulate in an upper tray where they can be rapidly assaulted by the redcoat blockhead to the cemetary below. The redcoat blockhead and the judicial balances are part of the same mechanism and so unable to cause justice.

Materials: red oak, poplar, steel balls, brass, magnet, india ink, paint, spring, rope human power

22" x 29 1/2" x 11 1/4"

"For depriving us in many cases , of the benefits of Trial by Jury."

"...For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:" 2008

The Brass ball king resides over a jury and controls a trapdoor which makes our little steel ball disappear into the floorboards, thus preventing a trial by jury.

Materials: red oak, poplar, steel balls, brass ball, spring, rope, paint, human power

27 1/4" x 22" x 11 1/4"

"...for transporting us beyond Seas..."

" ...For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offenses..." 2008

A ship goes incessantly back and forth along a piano type mechanism creating an attractive wave-like movement. Appearing as stars on the back wall of this box and some others is the position of the planets in thier orbit around the sun on july 4th 1776.

Materials: red oak, poplar, india ink, paint, steel balls, brass, hickory dowels from the Slipping Glimpser , rope, human power

17 3/4" x 35" x 10 1/4"

"...burnt our towns..."

"... burnt our towns..." 2008

A fat and happy king swings above the town he has presumably just caused to be destroyed. These assembles and burnt fragments come from the parts of other boxes within this body of work.

Materials: oak, ash, poplar, brass, steel ball, painted wood, spring, rope, human power

"...ravaged our Coasts..."

"... ravaged our Coasts..." 2008

This humorous little box allows the viewer to drop a cock-and-balls type pendulum into a hole where the sea meets the shore. This motion causes the land to quake.

Materials: red oak, poplar, india ink, brass wire, steel ball, paint, human power

25 3/4" x 16 1/2" x 11"

"He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws..."

" He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them." 2008

A lonely king rests on his circular track in his golden room above metal balls suspended on strings. These balls can be struck by the loose balls propelled by the viewer. a sort of clattery entanglement occurs and the king doesn't give a fuck (neglects to attend to thier disarray)

Materials: red oak, brass, steel balls, brass ball, copper, paint, human power

26" x 35" x 11"

the Little Republic

"Arguably the great division in American political life has been between the original Federalists and Republicans. Their polar aspects, for those who enjoy personalizing the abstract, are Hamilton and Jefferson. Hamilton: "A national debt, if not excessive, will be to us a national blessing." Today's Hamiltonians have beatified our present nation with a debt undreamed of by Hamilton, who also took the dark view of democracy: "the people is a great beast." Opposite of Hamilton is the benign Jefferson who assured us that, simply by birth we have... "unalienable rights among which are the preservation of Life and Liberty and the pursuit of happiness." That the actual pursuit of happiness is, in and of itself, the only true happiness that most of us will ever know might be the puritan Adamsian gloss on what was more Jefferson's great daydream than any working political philosophy."

-Gore Vidal from Inventing a Nation p. 179

This pithy little summation is the source of the title of the project. It is interesting to me that the certain kind of dreamy failure seems to be a part of the spirit of so many great documents. Vague language coupled with lofty ideals leads to a true openness of interpretation, a miniature little void weaved through our motivations. an openness to change and to future unknowns leads us to not worship our handiwork. Thus, the potential self destruction for the "Great Daydream's" great mechanism of concrete and pulleys which may destroy itself.

the Little Republic

"Sheer admiration of mechanical beauty would inspire a greater public spirit than any dry calculation of utility."

Garry Wills, Inventing America: Jefferson's Declaration of Independence, p103

-This is the beginnings of propagandistic use of tech. precedes f-14 fly-overs at Indy car races. In my project, the hope is that mechanical beauty can inspire public spirit.

-this quote comes from Wills' examination of the Rittenhouse Orerrary which was a mechanical model of the solar system. To be able to make one of these in the 1760's was an accomplishment. It is this type of parlor mechanism which this project stems from.

- as a subtle detail, in the background of many of the boxes are dots representing the position of the planets in orbit on the day of july 4 1776.

*****

Listed below are the 13 wall mounted boxes (1 for each of the original colonies) with a brief description of the internal mechanics inspired by its particular phrase. This is meant only as a supplemental document to the actual usage of the boxes. Because the real nature of my project is in the giving of actual form to the framers' ideas, one must physically work the machines to get the full experience, but if one is unable to physically attend the show, the descriptions will give you some approximation of the mechanical notions. Also, during the research for this project I came across many pertinent quotes, some of which I have listed below with thier sources. For more information contact myself or Linda Warren Gallery. Thank you for your interest and attention.

Give Assent or Dissent

" States made empires, and empires dissolved into states. Empires are structures of political and economic interference that organize their component parts hierarchically. They thus represent the major conditions that statehood is designed to escape. Statehood implies the absence of external interference in internal affairs as well as formal equality in relations with other states. inviolability and equality are at the heart of the conception of external sovereignty. Only if all states mutually respect those requirements can any state be secure in its own independence. For this very reason sovereignty is contagious: once any community becomes a state, neighboring communities respond in kind"

David Armitage from The Declaration of Independence: A World History p.107

-As interactive art, it levels the hierarchy a bit by giving the possibility for the viewer to directly affect the art. it won't work without them (or my maintenance). This also brings with it a continual re-invention and improvisation as things fall apart. In Jefferson's desire to rewrite the Constitution with each new generation we also see this approach.

-This seems to me a most sensible articulation of an individuals way of being in the world as well. We encourage and seek a variety of independent and "sovereign" voices for interdependent and positive exchange through continued listening and responsive action.