Danielle Degon

Fear of Becoming the Fool

An installation of horizontally strung segments of barbed wire that connect the opposing gallery walls, beginning at the floor and continuing up to a height of fifteen feet. Each segment of barbed wire has been carefully hand-twisted and coated in Disperse red 9, a transferrable red dye that is used in smoke grenades and theft-protection dye packs. Segments of barbed wire span across the gallery every eight inches, creating an impenetrable border that marks anything with which it comes into contact.

The Edge of Precarity

An exhibition by Philadelphia artists investigating the differences between intellectual and material production, the expectation of productivity, and the alienation of extracted labor. Sarah Heyward, Stephanie Cayer, Gabrielle Constantine, and Sarah Grisham explore the depths of the unpaid labor they perform, the effects it has on the global market, and how to escape precarity though text paintings, textured sculptures, and receipt logs.

Curator: Danielle Degon

Artists: Sarah Heyward, Stephanie Cayer, Gabrielle Constantine, Sarah Grisham

Little Berlin: Philadelphia, PA
October 27 2018

Art-work, Productivity, & Public Funding

A call to action for artists and other exploited service workers feeling alienated by their constant quest for self-optimization. Through survey data and personal experience, I trace the reasons why artists don’t get paid and provide evidence for why they should. After examining the effects of wage-labor and individualism on artists, I draw conclusions for the abolition of work and productivity.

Written in conjunction with The Edge of Precarity at Little Berlin: Philadelphia, PA in 2018

Download .pdf ︎

Little Berlin: Philadelphia, PA
October 27 2018

Irreversible Process

A solo exhibition exploring the differences  between the idealized and the real object. Using steel, wax, fabric, and heat lamps, the sculptures change, sink, melt, and dissolve into entropy. This performance of the objects disseminates the possibility of individual rebirthwhile contemplating the self as prop, self as subject of dissection, and self as spectacle.

Materials: plastic sheeting, wood, wax, steel, space heater, fabric, mattress, plexiglass, heat lamps, dc motor,

Dimensions: 20’x20’x10’

Stella Elkins Gallery: Philadelphia, PA
January 27 2017

Watch Your Step

A performance that began when the viewers met the flat platform, which was unknowingly unable to bear weight, in the middle of a large room. The text, “watch your step”, acted both as an invitation and a warning, allowing the viewer to contemplate the consequences of their actions only after performing. The piece assigned specific blame to the viewers whose shoeprints were clearly visible. The work deconstructs narratives of fault and blame through positioning the viewers as naiveté.

Materials: plaster, wood

Dimensions: 10’ x 5’ x 5”

Tyler School of Art: Philadelphia, PA
December 2016