
As the wheel turns, a
switch is triggered on an ink-jet printer and one photocopy of a photograph
is taken off a stack and dropped into an aluminum basket. The basket revolves
slowly clockwise around the vertical eight foot mechanically driven wheel,
which bears a design in metal filigree, representing the shapes of two snakes
on the verge of swallowing each others tails (a double Oroborous).
When it reaches the other
side, the photograph is dumped out into a small firebox with a heating element
stretched across it. As it bursts into flames, the ashes fall into the fire
pit and the smoke is sucked up and vented out of the exhibition space. The
wheel continues revolving back towards the stack to retrieve the next photograph,
and so on, each complete revolution taking about 5 minutes to complete.
The photograph is of the
artist's deceased father. Soon after he passed away, all of his belongings
and personal papers were destroyed. One of the few remaining images of him
is this photograph. 'Burn', evokes memories, spirits, sacrifice and wishing.
Each time the photo is carried around the wheel it is bound to the laws of
eternal reoccurrence and the inevitability of dissolution.