Mixed-media gallery installation
Dimensions: 1 1/2 ft x 1 1/2 ft per plinth (roughly)
Materials: #1 - Pressure cooker, nails, screws, super glue, duct tape, sugar, black powder, rubber gloves, wire, cell phone
#2 - Pipe, pipe caps, Christmas tree light, wire, match heads, 9V battery, alarm clock (analog), sugar, duct tape, gloves
#3 - Glass bottle, rag, t-shirt, gasoline, motor oil, Styrofoam, gloves
Completed: 2014
This work was curated by Pan Wendt for the group show “Somewheres” featuring emerging artists from across Atlantic Canada at the Confederation Centre for the Arts in Charlottetown, PEI.
This project was a response to the Boston Marathon bombing that occurred on April 15, 2013, when two brothers planted and detonated homemade pressure cooker bombs near the race's finish line, resulting in three fatalities and hundreds of injuries. In the wake of this tragedy, I embarked on a journey to understand the materials and techniques involved in creating such devices.
Through initial online research, I quickly accessed the same information that the perpetrators had found, including basic DIY bomb-making techniques, comprehensive material lists, and detailed step-by-step instructions. The individual components required to construct each bomb are innocuous and easily accessible, representing familiar items from everyday life. However, when these materials are brought together in close proximity, they take on a sinister significance.
In this exhibition, I present the various materials required to create three types of homemade explosives: the pressure cooker bomb, the pipe bomb, and the Molotov cocktail. These materials are displayed on three separate plinths, sourced from local Walmart and Home Depot stores. The stark contrast between the ordinary nature of these items and their potential for destruction invites viewers to confront the unsettling reality of how everyday objects can be repurposed for violence.