One Dozen
egg shells, egg carton, leds, microcontroller
9" x 16" 12" (2007)

-----The work titled One Dozen consists of a dozen eggs in their original carton. The carton is sitting on top of a white shelf. The eggs have been hollowed out and red LEDs have been inserted inside. At first glance, the eggs appear to be unaltered. There is a single red button in the corner of the shelf that suggests its interactive nature. Inside the box, there is circuitry and a microcontroller that controls the behavior of the work.
-----The work is about chance and surprise. The idea for this work came to me one morning. I cracked open an egg to make an omelet and to my surprise two yolks came out. I thought it was interesting that I didn’t really know what was in an egg until I cracked it open. This simple act seemed to imitate life in many circumstances.
-----When the viewer approaches the work it is evident that the red button is calling to them. After pressing the button, one of the eggs will begin to slowly start to pulsate and glow red. This pulsing glow gives the sense that the egg is breathing. This behavior is intended to surprise the viewer because there is no indication that the eggs would glow red. The foreign aspect of a glowing egg also relates to increase of hormones found in many of our food sources.
-----The notion of chance is inserted by randomizing which egg will glow when the button is pressed. This sense of chance is increased by introducing many other patterns or behaviors that the work can display. For example, three eggs might glow, all the eggs might glow, or any combination or sequence.