Opening Reception of “PULL!” by William LeGoullon

A bright orange bird made of resin and limestone flies across the sky only to be obliterated in an instant by the pull of a trigger. The joy of removing the clay pigeon from its trajectory, stunning its travel mid-flight, and sending countless shards into all directions, is a strange sensation of delightful destruction. But what happens when you miss? The clay continues onward, unaffected by your pellets, only to eventually drop to the ground and be left behind. Endless fragments litter much of the landscapes I explore. By lucky chance, however, some survive the impact and retain their shape and form. Others simply never got aimed at and are left placed on hillside backstops.

I’ve collected these surviving targets to be re-used in a responsible and unique way. To allow the same gratifying yet bizarre experience of wreckage, participants are asked to operate a skeet thrower, hurling their clay pigeons airborne to be broken against gallery walls. The beautiful black and orange remnants will then be collected and re-used in future art making. While the public is not actually taking aim at the discs using a firearm, they are, however, forced to launch their projectile at an illustration of a saguaro cactus framed within a traditional target pattern. This unnerving reminder is an attempt to consider the narrative that leads to this experience and to our connection with landscapes being affected by these potentially harmful yet enjoyable activities.

– William LeGoullon