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Ethan Hayes-Chute

Hayes-Chute’s work, on show at MIT List, reflect a “DIY” approach to architecture and technology, and investigate processes of labor, production, and redistribution.

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  • 19 July 2016
  • Cambridge

Ethan Hayes-Chute’s installations, sculptures, drawings, text pieces, and performances explore ideas of self-sufficiency and self-preservation as alternative models for living. He constructs small, near-functional cabins and partial interiors out of entirely salvaged materials; the structures variously make reference to landscapes on the margin, life off the grid, ecology and waste. Many of Hayes-Chute’s recent works reflect a “DIY” vernacular approach to architecture and technology, and investigate processes of labor, production, and redistribution.

Ethan Hayes-Chute, From the series, Structural Slabs, 2015 – ongoing, wood, found objects, electricity, 32 x 39 x 6 in. Courtesy the artist. ph John McCusker

The exhibition at the List presents a new architectural installation developed for Bakalar Gallery that includes the display of a number of repurposed 1980s Epson HX-20 Notebook computers, a series of smaller assemblages using found and retrofitted objects, as well as selected video works from his recent collaborative project Conglomerate.tv, an artist-run television network originating from Berlin.

Left: Ethan Hayes-Chute, Programming Station (Lectern), 2012, wood, Epson HX-20 notebook computer, custom software, programming manuals, paper rolls, various materials 41 x 16 x 11 in. Courtesy the artist. Right: Ethan Hayes-Chute, Contemporary Spice Rack, 2012, jars, bottles, various containers, mixed contents, push pins, Epson HX-20 printouts 23 x 15 x 3 in. Courtesy the artist

The New Domestic Woodshop (2016), Hayes-Chute’s first contribution to the channel billed as bringing “your domestic fantasies to life,” riffs on DIY-culture and amateur tutorials posted on YouTube. As the artist demonstrates how to construct a pizza oven from two hot plates, he also presents a deadpan reflection on his own working process in the studio.

Ethan Hayes Chute, Bottles and Jars from Contemporary Spice Rack, 2012, jars, bottles, various containers, mixed contents, Epson HX-20 printouts, dimensions variable. Courtesy the artist

Hayes-Chute first began utilizing repurposed HX-20 computers in his 2012 exhibition Portable Practicality, Practical Portablility. The artist has reprogrammed the near-obsolete machines – considered to be one of the first laptop computers to become widely available in the US in the early 1980s – and uses them, for other practical applications, as a labeling and output device for an absurdist line of salves, balms, ointments, tinctures, and sauces. The rudimentary text labeling lends a retro-futuristic undertone to the artist’s “products.” In the exhibition, visitors will be able to engage interactively with at least one of the antiquated computers.

Ethan Hayes-Chute, Epson HX-20 printouts, test prints and sketches, Dimensions variable. Courtesy the artist


until 16 October 2016
List Projects: Ethan Hayes-Chute
curated by Henriette Huldisch
MIT List Visual Arts Center
Bakalar Gallery
Cambridge, Massachusets  

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