In this exegesis, A Misuse of Time and Energy, I set out a contextual framework for my practice-based sculptural project. I consider two flawed and unsuccessful projects undertaken by the American inventor Thomas Edison, the rise, popularisation and promotion of technological DIY by Popular Mechanics Magazine and the comical treatments of objects, space and time in the cartoon inventions of Rube Goldberg. Invention and improvisation link these three strands of enquiry in my text. Each of the three presents a different perspective on my project: Edison the flawed and doomed to fail project, Popular Mechanics the infectious enthusiasm of the do-it-yourselfer and the Goldberg approach in which the best solution is the least efficient.
