AND, APOLLO

And Apollo, A Laboratory 

And, Apollo: A Laboratory, is the first chapter of an ongoing work thatcombines experimental documentary, video, and sculptures to grapple with collisions between biography and history. The narrative of And, Apollo is anchored in the Mojave Desert, the place where I grew up and now a landscape for my exploration of Americana, the body, and queerness.

Using artifacts and storytelling from the California desert, And, Apollo reverberates with links between the Cold War space race, militarization, technological acceleration, ATV (All-Terrain Vehicle) recreation, class, and meth addiction. I distill what seem to be unrelated histories and cultural expressions, rituals and diseases, into a narrative that crystallizes connections between the deeply personal and the geopolitical.

Untitled (Phytochemicals), 2020
Ephedrine Installation: Modified glass vessels, Ephedra sinica (Ma Huang), Ephedra distachya, Sida cordifolia (Bala), Pinellia ternata (Ban Xia), soil, desert sand, rock.

Ephedrine, a primary ingredient in methamphetamines, was synthesized from Ephedra Sinica, also known as Ma Huang, a plant used in Chinese herbal medicine for asthma, coughs, congestion and other lung issues.  Methamphetamines were first developed in Germany by Japanese chemists, Nagai Nagayoshi in the 1890s, and then refined by Ogata Akira in the early 20th-century.