The Embroidery of an Engine

(a work in progress)

My project, The Embroidery of an Engine, is a continuation of my exploration of the vehicle as a metaphor for understanding the philosophy behind the human capacity for drive and determination. I have been working on this project on and off for almost three years, and it will take me at least another year and a half to finish it.

The engine can be seen as a metaphor and philosophy on how to live a life. An influence for this project is the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values by Robert M. Pirsig. In the book, Pirsig navigates life’s existential questions and choices by continuously relating these to his ability to move forward, in his case a motorcycle. In my case, I had inherited a decrepit 1969 Chevelle from my late father. I began researching how cars truly work because I had this need to understand what was wrong with the Chevelle. It had become an ossuary for my grief. Understanding the basics of car mechanics responded to my reading of Pirsig’s book, and the engine became a symbol of understanding one’s own ambitions/desires and how to make those into an output that drives you forward.

However, effort requires labor. Labor is a theme that I often visit in my work because I want to understand what my own capacities are. I grew up as an athlete, which has instilled in me a certain relationship with my body, endurance, and the notion of capability. This embroidery project is a challenge I set myself: I had this idea for a large embroidery that I knew, based upon my previous experience with the medium, would take me long time, but can I do it anyway?