Toy Box

2023

Vintage Arcade Claw Machine, Mums, Soil, Grow Lights

42” x 24” x 72”

Made specifically for the Paseo Festival, Illuminating the street is a vintage arcade claw machine, The Toy Box. As the viewer approaches, they begin to notice something oddly comforting about this classic game — rather than kitschy plastic toys and plush stuffed animals, the machine is filled with live Pansy flowers. The game, loaded with free play credits, allows participants to endlessly attempt to pick a flower. I feel this project contains a potent metaphor for our ever-growing spiritual and technological separation from nature