Franconia Tablet (Dedicated to the memory of George Floyd who was murdered by police on May 25, 2020)
120” x 120” x 3”
Scrap plywood, tattered American flag, used tools, prop bones, iPhone, security locks, sunglasses, screws, broken glass, miscellaneous detritus, plaster, salvage paint, recycled candle wax
2020-2021
2020 Fellowship Artist
Artist Statement
Don Edler’s tablet sculptures are made entirely of waste materials (collected and recycled) and function as a reminder of our shifting understanding of what constitutes “the natural” in an ecology increasingly influenced by human-made materials and circumstances (The Anthropocene.) These sculptural tablets directly reference archaeological sites and the aesthetics of how we understand ourselves, our culture, and our planet by studying geological and anthropological moments throughout our histories. For the artist, these sculptures represent an opportunity to reflect on the physical make-up of our history and culture, including the overlaps between human histories, natural histories and natural resources.
This sculpture was produced in July, 2020, and was directly influenced by the May 25th murder of George Floyd, a black man and resident of nearby Minneapolis. Floyd was callously murdered by police officers who used excessive force while arresting Floyd for supposedly using a counterfeit $20 bill while trying to buy food. These kinds of egregious acts of state-sanctioned violence and death on the part of municipal police and other white patriarchal institutions is all too common in America and must be stopped. America was never “Great” and will not be great until minorities and marginalized communities are emancipated from structural oppression. For more information on how to get involved, please visit https://m4bl.org/
Don Edler
Born: Bremen, Germany, 1987
Resides: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Education
New York University, MFA, Studio Art, 2014
University of Florida, BFA, Sculpture, 2010