Soft Wax: Adam Crosson

Highly malleable, soft wax can be impressed upon to the point of complete disfiguration. To be susceptible is to be inflicted; to absorb attraction, fear, and solitude is to confront it. Soft wax is of the internal. The Czech Hedgehog was used in WW2 as a part of anti-tank defense measures. It was employed on the front lines in order to halt advancing allied tank forces--a measure toward immobilization. The Hedgehog itself could be reoriented and still remain effective. Eventually the allies began to appropriate the Hedgehogs by cutting the originals down in size. These smaller fragments were then welded onto the front bearings of the tank allowing the allies a successful advance through the intact originals. The beauty of the Hedgehog was a dynamic yet utterly simple design, a design that made it susceptible to reconfiguration. In "Soft Wax" the Hedgehog is rendered with off-the-shelf fluorescent fixtures, casting light in multiple directions. In the photograph, 'untitled (lift)', a clear view down the Greenwich Foot Tunnel is offset by an elevator control panel. Both the Hedgehog and the lift act as points of intersect for the x,y, and z axis; a fundament within the language of engineering and design. 'Untitled (toilet)' was the final photograph taken in the bathroom of a flat in an apartment building in Whitechapel, London. The building is currently being demolished (January, 2015) to make way for new development. "...of course they lie, through stale breath they lie, through smashed teeth they lie. They lie through fucking, through painting, through staining. There is honesty in all that lie, for the lie is the space, is the impossible unknowable where all things exist, where all things are stained, where all things cease." Adam Crosson, born 1982 in Little Rock, AR, is currently an MFA candidate at the University of Texas, Austin and holds a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Arkansas, Fay Jones School of Architecture. Last year he was awarded a fellowship to study at the Royal College of Art, London, where he spent the Fall of 2014. In 2014 Crosson was also awarded a residency at the Vermont Studio Center and received a solo exhibition at the Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Museum in Austin. In addition to showing at Pump Project in 2015, Crosson will hold a solo show at Co-Lab in Austin as well as participation in group shows at Lawndale Art Center, Houston and the Alabama Center for the Arts. www.adamcrosson.com _______________________________________________ Opening Reception: Friday, February 6, 7-10 pm Exhibition: February 6 - February 28, 2015 Gallery Hours: Saturdays & Wednesdays 12-5pm or by appointment _______________________________________________