Eric Millikin

Liquid light show created from lead-contaminated Flint water, converted to multi-channel video projection, and projected through rotating 3D-printed optical illusion sculpture of faces and water vessels, with a duration is 6.6 years, which is my calculation of the minimum average loss of expected life for a child conceived during the worst 17 months of the Flint Water crisis.

One in a series of small-scale print portraits based on packages of over 40 different brands and flavors of chewing gum, distributed to the public along with packages of chewing gum secretly stuck underneath tables and chairs of public restaurants and bars. On the back of each print is a quote from the subject, with the word "freedom" replaced with "free gum." Here, the back reads: “Free gum is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”

One in a series of interactive video projections of “self-portraits while possessed by ghosts,” used as a metaphor for how our long-dead predecessors still have control over us (through laws, societal norms, cultural influence, etc.). The occult themes are inspired by my ancestors who were executed during the Salem Witch Trials. This portrait was created for the combined birthdays of poet Sylvia Plath (Oct. 27, 1932 – Feb. 11, 1963) and artist Mike Kelley (Oct. 27, 1954 – c. Jan. 31, 2012). Both Plath and Kelley were killed by depression and suicide.

One in a series of “self-portraits while possessed by ghosts.” This portrait was created for the anniversary of the births of American televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker (March 7, 1942 – July 20, 2007) and Dutch artist Piet Mondrian (March 7, 1872 – Feb. 1, 1944).

Part of a series of tarot trump cards created with the assistance of artificial intelligence, then sent as part of a mail art project to the White House and elsewhere as "Replacement Trumps." The occult themes are in part inspired by my ancestors who were executed during the Salem Witch Trials.

Interactive video projection of Black Americans who have died at the hands of our police, each drawn on a Google map through the streets of their city, almost a memorial parade route, that cuts through key places in their life, death, and aftermath. The installation uses motion detection to react to the audience, so images change based on how they are viewed, or move to create distance from the viewer, or follow viewers when they walk away. The portraits here are of Philando Castile and Eric Garner.

One in a series of interactive video projection mapped sculptures, using imagery of endangered animals (here, a polar bear and Sumatran tiger) created based on endangered venus flytraps that I've cross-bred and cloned in my tissue culture lab.