Scott A. Carter has worked in art installation for years. He’s worn the nitrile gloves to handle priceless works, like when he worked as a preparator at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Shoboygan, Wisconsin. He’s hung framed photographs not to be touched on the walls of Christian Brothers University’s Beverly + Sam Ross Gallery, which he runs as assistant professor of art. He’s placed pieces in tempered glass display cases at local museums as an occasional art handler. It’s a delicate practice, art installation — a practice that Carter was ready to disrupt.
It started with the display cases. As a sculptor, Carter says, “I was interested in using the surface to add jacks and cut holes, and treat them as a material, not so much like it’s going to preserve something.”
So, without much of a plan, he took a display case, laser-cut a hole, inverted a corner, added guitar cables, electronic components with exposed wiring, a silk plant, and topped it with a beer bottle. Now, it works as an amplifier of sorts. “You can plug [your instrument] in, and there’s three different modes you can switch between, and it’ll distort [the sound],” Carter says. “I ended up adding a contact mic, too.” Even without an instrument plugged in, the piece will make a loud buzzing sound, disrupting the typically quiet gallery space.
This piece, titled Energy States and made in 2023, would become the first of many semi-functional sculptures by Carter. For the first time, when he goes in to create a piece, he doesn’t have a plan; he just lets inspiration take over. “It’s a mashup of all the things that I like, furniture-ish design, electronics, engineering,” he says. “For years, I tried to combine my musical interests, interest in electronics with art, but they were always separate things.”
Most of these pieces now make up the Dixon Gallery & Gardens’ “Energy States” exhibition, on display through January 19th. Like the first, many of the pieces have sound and interactive components built in, with their mechanics exposed to the viewer, wires and tubing looping through grids made by the artist. Carter evokes mid-century modern or art deco styles with clean lines and simple use of materials, like recycled Modelo beer bottles and hardware the artist 3-D printed himself. He wants viewers to get up close to his works to engage with the elements from all sides layered under plexiglass and in display cases.
“I do get joy from looking at them and plugging them in a way that I haven’t gotten from other work I’ve made,” Carter says. “I think with this show, I finally got it to the point where I feel like, oh, everything together, I’m happy. Which is weird.”
“Scott A. Carter: Energy States,” Dixon Gallery & Gardens, 4339 Park, on display through January 19, free.