Michael E. Smith’s work consists mainly of videos and sculptures made from rubbish, corpses, junk and other remnants of our consumer society. The artist recovers found (visual) material, isolates natural products and man-made things from their original contexts, makes interventions and, in so doing, shifts their meaning and/or function. Smith’s absurd, alienating, and sometimes even morbid assemblages spring from his reflections upon the social, economic and ecological challenges of the 21st century. In this sense, his artistic practice can be seen as an archaeology of contemporary humanity that looks at both the present and the past.
