STATEMENT: The image is that of a germinating plant juxtaposed with a tracking tag. The subject is branded with copyright notice as intellectual property labeled as YOURS. The tagging defeats the purpose of the germinating seed which is now unable to grow. It is displayed to resemble a specimen box with gloves for touchless handling. The container is intended to overwhelm the sprout, to remove it from the viewer's space and by extension, the public arena.

STATEMENT: The image is of a blank CD badly scratched with marks which would prevent playing. The tracking label further erodes the functionality while raising issues of privacy. As it turns out, this fictional work intended as whimsy anticipates and understates electronic reality. The viewer must decide if the industrial gloves represent the long arm of big business or are meant as cautionary protection from unknown menace. As with so many of the pieces which have started out as propositions, it turns out that truth is stranger than fiction.

STATEMENT: A larger than life plant image is embedded in a clear mailing envelope and tagged for authentication. Removed from its natural context it is further authenticated with a serial number. What started out as real is now several degrees separated from its natural habitat. Once free in the many senses of the word, the specimen is now rarified as property.

STATEMENT: This pair of specimen box images are hinged to fold together as a single val ise. They symbolize the relentless collecting, cataloging, sorting and tagging of data. The leaves, as in the other pieces, are vehicles and metaphors for examining the larger issues of open source and common property. Cast as special members of their species, their depiction in black and white might evoke something lost.

STATEMENT: In this piece the copyright symbol is prominently displayed on the surrogate leaf. The title draws a connection to cattle branding; the copyright brand in a similar way it constrains the free movement of the leaf and defines the basis of its valuation.

STATEMENT: The presumed free movement of the leaf is constrained by multiple boxes which create separation from the viewer's space. The presumed freeness of the fallen leaf displayed on wheels on the floor is contradicted by its serial number intended to be an absurd system of authorization. This leaf belongs to someone who will let you use it for a price. The authenticated leaf is trapped in a hover between its shadow and its frame.

STATEMENT: A peephole viewer is used as an eyepiece to invite the viewer to examine the tagged leaf as if it is a potential intruder. The peephole raises suspicians about both authenticity and a hidden agenda faintly visible in the oversized product tag. What is the nature of the two-way data stream suggested?

STATEMENT: The copyright notice on the stem claims the leaf as "mine" as opposed to yours, ours, or theirs. As would-be conservator, the gloves invite you to grab the seedling--to remove it from its adhesive tracking tag. This particilar pair of gloves, with palms covered by little blue bumps, might be imagined to have special powers as well as a tight grip.

STATEMENT: Each of the inventoried weeds displays a copyright attribution of mine, yours, ours, theirs or open source. The grid creates a catalog if not a classification system for the scientist/viewer to review the data. The imagined sorting of mine vrs. yours draws attention to the idea that these should not be treated as property at all but as a common resource.

STATEMENT: The display depicts a collection of incubating seeds recorded over a period of several days. Once germinated (in the second and third image, they display copyright symbols as if part of their genetic structure. The three panels are hinged together and each individual panel is detailed to suggest a cross between a clipboard and a card catalog drawer. The seeds are treated as intellectual property, belonging to someone who controls their use and distribution.

STATEMENT: This piece explores the use of the recycle symbol as a form of corporate branding. It investigates the question of whether the presence of this symbol on a product is motivated by the desire to create a kind of value added element, an endorsement of sorts. In this case since the leaves are clearly natural and will eventually rot, it is intended to raise questions about the purpose of the symbol in a larger context.

STATEMENT: While the leaf is tracking the viewer through its radio frequency tag, the viewer is also monitoring the leaf through the peephole--a case of reciprocal data mining. It is intended as a kind of analog to digital stalemate.