Untitled
Host / Curator: Tom Heinrich, Data Marketing Inc.
Artist: Eric Morrill
Data Marketing Inc. (DMI) administers a broad spectrum of direct mail campaigns primarily for, but not limited to non-profits and government agencies. They take a campaign full circle, handling everything from database management to design, printing, and analysis. This wide range of activities translates into a diverse group of work environments from office cubicles to warehouse space all under the same roof. Presented with this spectrum of possibility, artist Eric Morrell initially had ideas ranging widely, from an historical approach reflecting DMI’s founding in 1974 to a more formal response to irregularities in the painted stripes on the columns in the warehouse.
DMI is also a family owned, community-oriented business, a fact visible in the approach on which Eric eventually focused. The Heinrichs use a corner of the warehouse space as personal storage, keeping furniture and various boxes there instead of a separate storage unit or home attic. Eric sees this installation as framing existing conditions in order to create something new, in a way that might recall his work in photography. Carrying this methodology into his work at DMI, his practice of “reconfiguring things already there” allows visitors and employees alike to appreciate the hybrid nature of this space in new ways.