Nate Ricciuto

Drip and Drivel, 2025 - Beeler Gallery, Columbus, OH

This activated sculpture adapts a solar distilling system to create an absurd simulation of a largely invisible environmental process. A strategy borrowed from off-grid homesteaders and employed in locations lacking access to electricity, evaporation and condensation within a glass enclosure become a low-tech way of purifying dirty water for drinking.

The interactive device makes an awkward attempt at ritual cleansing or conferring a blessing, conflating the naturally occurring transformation of material substance with spiritual or supernatural transformation. The purified distilled water is directed into a reflective basin, where a makeshift mechanized arm gently dips into the water and waves hypnotically through the space, redistributing the liquid back into the atmosphere. Sediment and impurities accumulate in the reflective glass basin.