A photo of the whole show is installed in a gallery. From left to right: cards on the ground, a table with a screen in the tabletop and a drawing above, a pile of small objects on the ground, two wall-mounted framed works, and a small steel sculpture with + Enlarge
Dots on a Line 2021 Installation Shot
A close-up of the two framed works. One contains many red map pins stuck into green graph paper to form the outline of a highway clover. The other contains an image of a blue car that is dented and a fabric tag that says “made with love”. + Enlarge
Map Patterns / Mending Heirlooms (Together)
A close-up of the two framed works. One contains many red map pins stuck into green graph paper to form the outline of a highway clover. The other contains an image of a blue car that is dented and a fabric tag that says “made with love”. + Enlarge
Mending Heirlooms (Together) Honda Civic previously owned by grandfather, fabric clothing tag from grandmother’s sewing kit, mahogany
A close-up of the two framed works. One contains many red map pins stuck into green graph paper to form the outline of a highway clover. The other contains an image of a blue car that is dented and a fabric tag that says “made with love”. + Enlarge
Map Patterns Mahogany, map pins, graph paper, cork
A wooden table with a small screen in the center of the tabletop. The tabletop is in a shape that is similar to a “burst” and an intersection of four roads. The screen is showing the tabletop standing vertically at the top of a grassy hill. Above the tabl + Enlarge
Intersection Obelisk (Displayed) / Inside the Interchange
A wooden table with a small screen in the center of the tabletop. The tabletop is in a shape that is similar to a “burst” and an intersection of four roads. The screen is showing the tabletop standing vertically at the top of a grassy hill. Above the tabl + Enlarge
Intersection Obelisk (Displayed) Maple, LED screen / Graphite
A wooden table with a small screen in the center of the tabletop. The tabletop is in a shape that is similar to a “burst” and an intersection of four roads. The screen is showing the tabletop standing vertically at the top of a grassy hill. Above the tabl + Enlarge
Inside the Interchange Graphite
A messy but consolidated pile of the listed materials and scraps. + Enlarge
Things Under the Seats McDonald’s french fries, strip of jacket lining, Advil, Ricola, leaves, sticker sheet, a receipt for a coffee, and a plastic figurine
A small hand-drawn paper card and a business card. The business card belongs to Todd Wilson, service manager at Boyland Honda. The hand-drawn card reads: "All those Europeans should have just stayed home, now I drive a Honda that is of flesh and bone + Enlarge
Source Cards Graphite / The business card of the man who sold my grandfather the Honda Civic
 A floor sculpture consisting of a steel frame modeled after a car chassis holding three small screens. One screen faces forward, another up, and another backward. One plays a video of cars being scrapped, another plays a home movie of someone showing fri + Enlarge
Honda Civic Triptych Steel, LED screens, found videos
A floor sculpture consisting of a steel frame modeled after a car chassis holding three small screens. One screen faces forward, another up, and another backward. One plays a video of cars being scrapped, another plays a home movie of someone showing frie + Enlarge
Honda Civic Triptych detail 01 Honda Civic Triptych
Honda Civic Triptych video
Statement

Dots on a Line comes from a practice of mapping out the physical, social, and cultural histories of objects to gain a better understanding of their existence. In doing this we can find the many pathways that have converged to make an object what it is, and we are then able to reflect on and critique how those pathways and objects exist. This body of work showcases this by choosing one specific object to dissect; the 2004 Honda Civic I purchased second-hand from my grandfather. 

The work is a fluid exploration of the Honda Civic as an intersection where many vast and varied pathways converge, mingle, and then diverge again. It focuses on both the phenomenon of pathways intersecting, and the global and personal pathways that have merged in order for it to exist as it is, painting a loose picture of how the mid-range family sedan exists in the U.S. today. Family, movement, the American relationship to the automobile, generational masculinity, heirlooms, and the global patterns defined by European colonialism can all be found in this picture, and are all pathways that have led to the Honda Civic and will continue to stem from it. 

All photographs by Evelyn Ivy (@_evillian)