One Dies, Get Another is an installation of twelve electromechanical sculptures – each constructed from Southern Yellow Pine, plaster, forged steel, pine tar, and a microcontroller-driven motor. Twelve forged steel replicas of turpentining tools (“hacks”) rap against twelve cast-plaster replicas of terracotta turpentine collection pots (“Herty pots”). A staccato rhythm develops as each sculpture moves at its own pace, pauses, and returns to its never-ending task. The ideas driving the piece are a result of my three years of research into the history of the turpentine industry in North Florida, and the intertwined politics of convict leasing, wartime Naval stores, and post-slavery debt peonage.

This work is currently on view at the Orlando Museum of Art, as part of the Florida Prize in Contemporary Art exhibiton. The Florida Prize is an annual invitational exhibition to which the Museum invites ten artists based on criteria that includes artistic excellence, engagement with significant ideas and achievement that is demonstrated by a history of exhibitions and awards. The purpose of the Florida Prize in Contemporary Art is to bring a new level of recognition to the State’s most progressive artists and to encourage their ongoing contribution to the State’s cultural vitality.