FIREWATER

Fire and water, the sacred icons of the creative spirit since the dawn of time, symbolize human’s claims as masters of the planet— we alone engage the vast mysteries of earth’s elemental intrigue. Savvy creatures, we have cleverly adapted to coexist with cosmic forces more powerful, and perhaps even more imaginative, than we. 

But it’s a fragile partnership.

Our lives draw inspiration from the perpetual cycle of water and the finality of fire. They are beautiful, seductive, and benevolent, but they can often be dangerous and unforgiving. Fire and water command our respect… for who can dismiss the divine tracks they leave in the dust? 

Against this metaphysical backdrop, I present my most recent creative expression: FIREWATER 

It’s a ton of imachination! 

Featuring a thirty year collection of antique fire nozzles, pumps, sprinklers, extinguishers, and alarms, it represents mankind’s endless battle to harness the forces which simultaneously sustain and threaten us. We compete to survive. 

We can fight fire with fire… or water… if we can pressure it to serve our purposes. Much of what you see here represents efforts to make water smaller, but faster, and in so doing, engineers produced marvelous devices to counterpunch fire with water.  

FIREWATER, The Contraption, suspends the unremitting conflict; it negotiates peace between ancient combatants. Consequently, we enter a state of being unique to art: tranquility and balance— understood, experienced, and appreciated.  

And what better way to celebrate harmony, save, perhaps, pure and undefiled worship, than enjoying a splash of firewater with friends and friends in the making. 

Since the launching of the human experiment, vessels of life have gathered to share bread and drink, firewater unique to the fruit and grain of regional fertility. It’s the most basic of human rituals. Cheers! 

Our magic machine is a honky-tonk, a speak easy, a watering hole, an Inn with a vacancy, a wayside tavern to calm, boost, and reassure our spirits in the company of fellow travelers. 

FIREWATER boasts in its functional artistry. It’s poetry in action. 

Dynamic. Curious. Provocative.   

It sprinkles. It rains. It pours… ardent spirits, in particular. It performs best where friends congregate to celebrate passages and renew acquaintances. 

FIREWATER’S genius transcends its assembly; rather its DNA projects a higher calling: a convocation for enthusiastic lovers of life.  

In the words of Paul McCartney, you’re invited to: “Come together, right now, over me.”