shaker
Headly Gallery
California State University, Chico
Chico, California
Gallery exhibition, 2016
Concept, design, and execution: Wes Heiss & Marek Walczak
Opened in coordination with the unveiling of Facewall, this exhibition is a response to the incredible agricultural production of almonds and walnuts in and around Chico.
A scaled down version of a tree shaking machine, used to drop nuts from trees, sits on an elevated platform in the gallery. The machine is highly distorted but by standing in line with a shadow on the wall it can be straightened back out.
The machines jaws grip a nut cracker where gallery attendants refill a bowl below with uncracked nuts.
Behind the piece a mirrored animation of shaking trees is projected on two walls.
A collection of study models are mounted to the wall.