• sugar daddy, 2001
  • sugar daddy, 2001
  • sugar daddy, 2001
  • sugar daddy, 2001

sugar daddy, 2001

fibreglass head, metal, custom electronics

programming: Jim Ruxton

31.5" h x 16” w x 13.75” d

sugar daddy is a term commonly used to refer to men courting and supporting younger women through cash and gifts. In this particular sculpture the term refers to an automated candy-coloured resin head. Cast from a styrofoam male mannequin acquired online, it is infused with an androgenous look. Automated to nod up and down and side to side in approval / disapproval, the sculpture "yes" and "no" actions are sequenced on a random basis.

The head turns left and right governed by motors and limit switches. An optical sensor alerts the logic when the head passes center position. The head always returns to centre before it changes direction. This movement and the randomness by which the head nods "yes" and "no" is defined by the computer program which has been downloaded to a chip and installed in the circuit board.

Exhibition History

2011    Don’t Lie to Me. Galerie Art Mûr, Montréal, Québec.
2002    Summer Invitational. Sable-Castelli Gallery, Toronto, Ontario. Curated by Barbara Edwards.
2001    autobody. The Koffler Gallery, Toronto, Ontario. Curated by Carolyn Bell Farrell.