Double Bind

A double bind is a situation in which you cannot escape unpleasant results, whatever action you decide to take. The work reflects on the multiple forms of double bind that we experience in contemporary life. We are split between online and offline life, often trying to escape one by entering into the other, but unable to avoid or exclusively inhabit either form of existence. Similarly, we want to preserve our current lifestyles and our ecosystem, yet they are mutually incompatible. We identify with multiple systems, which send us conflicting messages, and we cannot ignore or escape from these conflicts. Nora Bateson suggests that we must raise our consciousness and learn to think in new ways to escape from the ecological double bind. Similarly, Einstein said: "No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it." 

Set as a scene, with the chairs as stand-ins, Double bind is an installation that appears to take up space, yet the structure is achieved with only temporary, insubstantial material gestures. It is there and not there at the same time.  What appears to be a wall is constructed from flimsy underlay, intended to be used on a floor. Paths and doorways allude to action yet it is not clear what the action is or when the action is taking place. Dust on the chairs suggests a past event, a ruin or human remains, yet there is also a sense of being invited to participate, to enter into this other space, or perhaps to search for an escape.