Numbers

An exploration of durational performances and the artifacts of effort created. Work includes photography, sculpture, and paintings by Steven Berroteran.

Gallery

Exibition Dates: August 28, 2017 - September 21, 2017

Artist Statement

I create work by enduring repetitious and durational actions that push my body to a state of failure as a means of controlling the chaos of life's struggles and tribulations. While witnessing these performances is a significant part of the work, any marks, documentation, and objects, are remnants of endurance and become artifacts of effort. Photographs, sculptures, videos, and site-specific installations are created during these intense performances, approached with the same resolve and physicality an athlete or musician would use when practicing for hours, confronting personal weaknesses and gradually honing skills.

The physical and mental aspects of endurance are made visible through these moments of defeat and self-imposed suffering, showing one's capacity to deal with trauma and ultimately heal. In the same approach that the body uses to strengthen itself after microtrauma (microscopic tears caused by repetitive muscle contractions) we are able to heal from repeated hardship and tragedy. I am creating a training regimen for life, its responsibilities and tragedies; bracing the body for the impact of a crash.

—Steven Berroteran