Efficacious Play Therapy (In the Awe, 2022 to 2023)

Efficacious Play Therapy (In the Awe, 2022 to 2023) is a sculptural presentation made up of several works as a mini-installation. The piece seeks to both celebrate and critique the canonisation of Marcel Duchamp as the father of conceptual art, whilst exploring the tension of creative ‘restlessness’ and ‘acceptance’**. The presentation intends to sit between domestic setting and museum display. The spot lit from above encased reclaimed blackboard has the eyes of the late Marcel Duchamp hand rendered in liquid chalk in a smoky illustrative style. This looks over a bespoke plinth/bookcase, that has a Duchamp Urinal ring cast in porcelain and treated in chrome & matt black paint (titled ‘In the Awe…’), the ring is sized to the artists index finger, the car spray painted riser is made from poplar wood – the same material that the Mona Lisa is painted on, the dimensions of the display plinth is the same size as an international chessboard, and the height is the same as when Duchamp sat down to play chess. The selected books focus on Duchamp’s oeuvre, alongside various art theory, history publications – that have had a significant influence on Chavez-Dawson’s practice. [**There’s a nod to the systems of institutional advocacy at play here.] Medium: Mix-media: Liquid Chalk, UV treatment on Reclaimed Blackboard, Perspex Re*, Shelved Plinth Made from Reclaimed Chess Tournament Tables, Rechargeable Lights, Selected Artbooks (Marcel Duchamp, Umberto Eco Etc…), Cold Cast Porcelain, Chrome, Black Matt Paint, Sterling Silver, Popular-Wood, Spray Paint, Copper Scourers, Golden Yellow Rug. *Recycled and recyclable locally sourced Floreeda (Didsbury Manchester)