I’m interested in cultural interpretations of success and failure in all contexts. I invite a focused viewing of the less-than-honorable job known as daily living, while also showcasing the humor and empathy needed to succeed in that undertaking. 

I work in sculpture, installation, and video with an emphasis on kinetic mechanisms and technological wonderment. I shift the scale of iconic forms and in doing so create off-kilter dynamics of supremacy and submission, shrinking forms to the smallest of miniatures or projecting room enveloping video and installation. Machines and processes meet with reality where my works physically encounter the gallery using surfaces of the “white cube” as means of resistance. My idiosyncratic and precisely fabricated mechanical surrogates perform futile gestures for the viewer asking for fellowship and compassion. Sadly these disembodied souls, trapped in the gallery, never have hope of succeeding in their given tasks. 

sam@samblanchard.com

 

Sam is currently an Associate Professor of Sculpture in the School of Visual Arts at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA. He received his Bachelor of Fine Art in 2002 from Ohio University and Master of Fine Art in Sculpture with honors from the Rhode Island School of Design. He has an active international exhibition record, with solo exhibitions at such venues as the Las Vegas Contemporary Art Center, the Delaware Center for Contemporary Art, and The New Galley (Calgary, ON). His collaborative work in the fields of computer science and engineering have been presented at South-by-Southwest, World Maker Faire, and the ACM SIGGRAPH Conference amongst other high-profile venues.