Julie Oh
What Do Objects Want?

I make art from a very ordinary place. Kind of like dog or cat watching, I watch objects like they are living things. When everyday objects escape from functions of daily life and into space of art, I think they like it… though momentarily. Secretly, they want to re-enter the world as a born-again, forever changed in their form, purpose, and meaning.

I try to ease and nurture their desire as a meddler. This is a picture of me as a meddler in action. This suitcase once used to be a mailbox. When it became a suitcase, it wanted to live as a thing that moved, not as a stationary thing. As a meddler, I was happy to help.

Perhaps I am assuming too much. Maybe objects just want to be left alone altogether… Or maybe they don’t know which side they want to belong: art side or life side. After all, they don’t have what humans have, a mind of their own. They are just objects. Docile, waiting for a prompt by no one else, but you.