Title: High Hopes
Media: Roomba, rubber tree plant, carpet, curtains, sound.
Year: 2014.
Exhibited: "Katherine Behar: High Hopes" at The Brunswick Window, Jersey City, NJ, USA. June 6-30, 2014. Curated by Roger Sayre.
Special Thanks: Roger Sayre, Charlotte Beckett, Scott Penkava.
In High Hopes, an unattended Roomba fastidiously cleans a carpet with a rubber tree plant strapped to its back. An instrumental version of Frank Sinatra's "High Hopes" plays in the background and the Roomba seems to be dancing to the music. With its "chin on the ground," the Roomba mimics the fortitude of the "little old ant" in Sinatra's song. It tries against all odds to "move that rubber tree plant!"