Sloane McFarland
Inventory, 2001
Mixed media
Site specific installation
Courtesy of the artist, Phoenix, AZ

Sloane McFarland

Location: Lower Area of North Stairway

Inventory, a mixed media installation by Sloane McFarland, is a personal confession by the artist that literally documents his experience finding and responding to "a continued call from our Creator." McFarland's five-piece visual narrative is the result of the artist's "year-long examination of conscience," which is a direct reference to the spiritual evaluation of moral conduct that Roman Catholics must make before receiving the sacrament of penance (more recently renamed the sacrament of reconciliation).

Inventory began with a failed color silk-screen, blemishes on which McFarland developed into a drawing to document and utilize its imperfections. McFarland then focused on creating a large-scale screen print of Beatle John Lennon's hands. This same image had been the basis of ASSISSI, an earlier work by the artist that focused on an event during the 1964 Beatles' tour in America. During the tour, Lennon had been asked to touch children with cerebral palsy, as if his hands possessed the Christ-like power to miraculously heal the lame. In keeping with his reputation for irreverence, Lennon's reaction to the frenzied public, captured on film, was to mimic the afflicted children' s uncontrollable body movements.

On January 1, 2001 McFarland, who is also a licensed State of Arizona real estate salesperson, inventoried a list of "sins" on the back of a purchase contract for a building located on Central Avenue in Phoenix. Finally, a year after his first failed silk-screen had been made, the artist found himself reading a book of messages that Jesus Christ allegedly had communicated to a Phoenix-based Roman Catholic priest. A torn-out page from this book, which is a part of the installation, speaks to the peace Christ offers to all.

Sloane McFarland received a BA in Philosophy and Mathematics from St. John's College in Santa Fe, NM. His work has been included in the exhibitions: Byte-bi-Byte, Howard House, Seattle, WA; Reflections, Barlow and Straker, Phoenix, AZ; The 110+ (Plus) Show, 828 Space, Phoenix, AZ; The Spurgeon Experience II, Raid Projects, Santa Ana, CA; PHACAEANS, Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, AZ; Spine, Guard Shack Gallery, Bergamont Station, Santa Monica, CA; T-West, Barlow and Straker, Phoenix, AZ; Watch Ashley Smith Watch Vivre Sa Vie, Barlow and Straker, Phoenix, AZ; Bare Mattress, Barlow and Straker, Phoenix, AZ; The Spurgeon Experience, Raid Projects, Santa Ana, CA; Psycho Was Filmed Here, Barlow and Starker, Phoenix, AZ; and The Family of Mayonnaise, Barlow and Straker, Phoenix, AZ.

Contact artist Sloane McFarland with questions about his work for
nooks and crannies by e-mail at sloanemcfarlandnooksandcrannies@hotmail.com

John D. Spiak
Curatorial Museum Specialist
Arizona State University Art Museum