SUBJECTS
We speak so much about what breaks our hearts, but never about what makes them. What bolsters our sense of self? What roots us to the earth? What gives us a sense of place and a sense of our place in this wide, wide world? There are innumerable answers to these questions, yet we still ask them. The right answer for us shifts daily, really with each moment. What grounded us yesterday can upend us tomorrow.
But one thing is constant - the insistence of existence. Each day, consciously or not, we insist on continuing on. Sometimes we just survive, sometimes we thrive. Through APPARATUS we bring whatever bounty we find within ourselves out into the world. Yes, we design objects - tools for living. But if we are a machine, our energy source is the people who inspire us.
So how do we honor them? By speaking their names, acknowledging their impact, and celebrating their agency as creative beings. Sure, you can leave one of our galleries with a beautiful object that serves a beautifully simple function. But you can also leave with empty hands and a full head or heart. Often, it is that which we cannot hold in our hands which matters most.
PORTRAITS BY MATTHEW PLACEK AND DINA LITOVSKY