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The Circadian Support Cycle
Amy Chiao
September 06, 2024 – October 13, 2024Fuller Rosen Gallery is thrilled to announce the opening of The Circadian Support Cycle, a new installation by Amy Chiao. Gallery viewers are greeted by Chiao’s latest innovation in sleep-health-technology, The Circadian Support Cycle; a modular waterbed and DVD player that fuse California health trends, animal husbandry, and maintenance art into Chiao’s distinctive blend of satire, performance, and critique.
Join us for an opening reception on First Friday, September 06 from 6-9 pm.
Amy Chiao, The Circadian Support Cycle, 2024
Chiao’s installation highlights the relentless pursuit of wellness in contemporary society, offering pointed commentary on how consumption and bodily functions shape our daily routines. Tired all the time? Trouble sleeping? The Circadian Support Cycle promises an unorthodox solution: a urology waste management system that doubles as a luxurious sleep aid. As a modern-day clepsydra, the waterbed monitors holistic hydration, pH levels, and nutrition, while its clear PVC vinyl construction and customizable hues allow users to align their slumber with their aesthetic preferences. From watering plants to urine therapy, the system’s dual-purpose functionality challenges the boundaries of sustainability and self-care.
Amy Chiao, still from The Circadian Support Cycle, video, 2024Chiao’s work is rooted in a rich history of ecological maintenance inspired by her Cantonese family’s heritage and California lifestyle mixed with the lineages of absurdism and maintenance art — namely the performances of Mierle Laderman Ukeles. Trained to preserve and conserve human fluids for gardening, Chiao’s grandmother kept reservoirs of her husband’s urine in the courtyard. After her grandfather’s passing during the COVID-19 pandemic, this sustainable act of collecting and recycling waste products became a fond memory for Chiao and the catalyst to developing cutting-edge urine collecting technology for the masses.
Chiao’s research into the historical uses of urine in water purification, leather tanning, and cleaning led to parallel studies in the material evolution of mattresses. From hay, feathers, and rope beds to coil spring beds, waterbeds, and the invention of memory foam, the scope of Chiao’s investigations unearthed the application of waterbed technology for use in contemporary bovine management. Through the construction The Circadian Support Cycle, Chiao illustrates how color and materials derived from the human body and acts of consumption can transform the performativity of daily routines and one’s character.
Amy Chiao, The Circadian Support Cycle, 2024With The Circadian Support Cycle, Chiao continues her subversion of product design and development creating a surreal yet functional piece that is as much a critique of capitalism as it is an affirmation of our ludicrous and beautiful world. Join us for an evening of innovation, satire, and immersive art as we unveil The Circadian Support Cycle at Fuller Rosen Gallery. Don’t miss the chance to experience this one-of-a-kind installation that challenges the norms of health, beauty, and sustainability.
Amy Chiao (b. 1992, she/her) Amy Chiao is a multimedia artist, performer, designer, and director working in site-specific performance installation, character development, and world-building materials design. Chiao comes from a family of Cantonese musicians and composers, Opera singers, and mannequin manufacturers. Her work strives to uncover and dimensionalize the fictitious nature of society through dramaturgy, narratology, and speculative design strategies. She is currently based in between Los Angeles, CA and Austin, TX.
She holds a BFA in Textiles at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and an MFA in Scene Design with a concentration in Integrated Media at the California Institute of the Arts (Calarts). Her practice has been generated through a wide range of different production spaces from community media stations, live theater, to product corporations including the cable access TV station Open Signal Portland Community Media, the clown cohort at Coho Theater, and Nike Inc. Her work has been shown at Human Resources (LA), The Elysian Theater, REDCAT Roy & Edna Disney Calarts Theater, the LA State Historic Park, Walt Disney Modular Theater Lobby, Killjoy Collective, Portland Art Museum, and the RISD Museum.