Douglas Degges | Open Studio

The Ant Project presents Douglas Degges' Open Studio, in collaboration with guest curator Ronald Sánchez.

this is always working is an ongoing collaboration with my dog, Cricket. Cricket is what the dog toy industry would call an aggressive chewer; he tears up everything I put in front of him—and quickly. For over three years now, I have found myself appreciating, and also keeping, the bits and pieces he leaves behind. Dog toys come beautifully crafted and composed, with well-organized, bright colors, varied textures, and considered shapes and edges. Shortly after reading Donna Haraway’s Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene, I began considering how I might extend the life of these objects that would otherwise go to the landfill. Haraway’s text gave a conceptual framework for me to begin working and thinking in new ways, ways that Haraway would describe as moving from “self-making” to “making-with.” What started as simple assemblages has now evolved into using dog toy fragments as sewing patterns for increasingly complex sculptures and printable elements for making monoprints. The project, now an interspecies collaboration, has also been a cause for reflection on labor in a creative practice. Cricket might be thought of as my studio assistant as well as my collaborator, and when he is working, I am also working. In this way, my hyperactive dog increases my productivity and allows me to spend long hours in the studio every day.

Douglas Degges