Upon entering the gallery space, the viewer is immediately attracted to the large wood and leather drum, metal moonshine still, and reflective mediation machine created by Ben Shaffer. The meditation machine captures the eyes of viewers, who are magnetized by the machine’s mirrors and vibrant lighting in much the same fashion as a child is drawn to shiny objects.

In addition to the drum, still, and mediation machine, Shaffer’s work consists of a plant and small ‘zine. The everyday quality of the plant and reading material offsets the bizarre, hyper-reality of the nearby moonshine still as well as the aforementioned meditation machine and oversized drum. The viewer is struck by the juxtaposition of ordinary, household items with abnormal, man-made objects. Or, to be more precise, the ordinary objects are rendered bizarre via the artist’s manipulation and placement within a deliberately unusual setting. The drum, for example, navigates the space between mundane and hyper-real as a common object becomes estranged from the viewer through Shaffer’s strategic play with size and functionality. The installation as a whole urges viewers to make meaning of the piece and to use it as a lens through which to contemplate the world, while simultaneously resisting and challenging traditional interpretation.

- DH