The Outer Space Box is an interactive sculpture that activates a space by both capturing an ephemeral event, and from that point on becoming an artifact with which the visitors to the space may question or discuss its purpose and method of operation.
Constructed of wood, metal, and plastic, The Outer Space Box has two visual forms which may be seen by the viewer. During its performance and operation, the object appears to be a large fabric cylinder with two wooden openings which sits on a large white pedestal. The fabric cylinders autonomously open and close at unspecified intervals, though when open allow for a viewer to look through the device to a small monitor which is playing back video from the very location they are standing. The viewer is not in the video, providing a quick realization that what they may be seeing is not a real-time event. Supporting the small television monitor is an uneasy stack of science textbooks, film books, mathematics textbooks, Choose Your Own Adventure novels, and unmarked VHS tapes. As the viewer explores the installation, the only sound comes from a hiss of static on the television monitor. As the object comes to life and the fabric cylinder opens, a cacophonous yet mechanical noise fills the space and continues until the cylinder has reached its maximum opening. This noise is again present as the fabric cylinder closes for the viewer, and returns again to the quiet hiss which permeates the space.
