Mixed-Media Assemblage

Overview

Be Quick examines how meaning is discovered through participation rather than immediate visibility. At its center is a black Utensilo populated with an accumulation of personal objects, tools, brands, and fragments collected across the artist’s life. Beneath this shifting surface, concealed within the plastic structure itself, is a handwritten message: “Hi Seth. Ready? Be Quick.” The message becomes visible only through changing viewpoints or by physically interacting with the work, allowing discovery to occur gradually rather than through instruction. Above the assemblage hangs a photograph signed to the artist by Danny DeVito following his first Super Bowl commercial, itself Data Framed and titled “S & D.” Below, a repurposed Sears cabinet from The Rigley Field—originally serving in the Rigley family home and later in the kitchen of The RF—is suspended on the wall to complete the exclamation point. Its shelves preserve a personal collection of ornaments retained across decades, including family heirlooms alongside handblown works by Astier de Villatte and John Derian. Resting on the cabinet are a Flos lamp, a stack of remastered and editioned James Bond soundtracks, and a model of Little Nellie. The work withholds its most personal narrative while allowing recurring forms, brands, colors, and symbols to echo throughout the wider corpus. Be Quick does not reward looking alone. It performs discovery.

Metadata

Artist
Seth / Ezra Dager

Year
2025–2026

Medium
Mixed-Media Assemblage

Status
Complete

Archive
Human Archive

Location
The Rigley Field

Components
Black Utensilo; concealed handwritten message (“Hi Seth. Ready? Be Quick.”); personal objects and collected fragments; Rimowa stickers; signed Danny DeVito photograph (“S & D”) with Data Frame; repurposed Sears cabinet from The Rigley Field; family heirloom ornaments; handblown ornaments by Astier de Villatte and John Derian; Flos lamp; remastered and editioned James Bond soundtrack collection; Little Nellie model.