Daniel Petraitis
42’s, Fabricated chrome plated steel,42 x 42 x 10 inches, 2011
Untitled (Microphone), , Plaster, Steel, Paint, 80 x 8 x 8 inches, 2012
Aritst Statement
My work questions the value we place on the handmade art object and that which is manufactured, exaggerating the thin line between what is and is not art. The work dismantles the value of the objects I’ve chosen, giving them new life as modern day relics. Using the lens of craft, the processes of production, and icons of urban life, the work re-focuses our perceptions of value. Thus reflecting the commonality of the urban landscape and transforming it into something that is both personal and precious.
In my practice I have shifted between modes of making. Using both artistic and non-artistic forms of labor has led me to question the distinction between art objects and non-art objects. Through hand making that, which was intended to be manufactured, I am examining the ways that objects create identity and value in our lives.
More information available at http://www.danielpetraitis.blogspot.com/