David R. Harper: A Fear of Unknown Origin

Comprised of seventy-two ceramic sculptures of animal heads glazed in various shades of blue, A Fear of Unknown Origin is inspired by two things that seem completely unrelated. The first inspiration comes from the cyanometer, an esoteric tool alpinists used to measure distance by the shades of the sky. The second is the idiom “Entre le Chien et le Loup” (between the dog and the wolf), which describes the effects of dusk and being unable to differentiate between friend or foe. Harper’s installation unifies the two with a gradual gradient of blue and a corresponding range of expressions, from smiles to snarls.