Peter Cullen is an assemblage artist combining prehistoric technologies with readymades in attempt to make connections between deep time and the present. He has lived and worked in Baltimore for 18 years. During that time, he has been an active member of the local DIY scene. Living in and volunteering at Baltimore’s fertile artist-run spaces has been an important part of his formation as an artist. Teaching at local colleges has also informed his practice.
The genesis of Cullen’s practice is the production of replica prehistoric stone tools. Stone tools are considered by some scholars to be part of the origin of human aesthetic thought even the beginning of music. They became an obsession after a personal trip to Ohio to view the artwork of the Adena-Hopewell culture. The Adena-Hopewell produced vast geometrics earthworks that functioned as astronomical observatories and influenced artists such as Robert Smithson and Maya Lin. They also had deep to connections to the Chesapeake Bay, where they obtained shells and shark teeth for their artwork.
Cullen produce replica stone tools by a process known as knapping. He obtains most of his material through the mail from informal networks on Facebook. All the material is sourced from within the United States. This opens questions about extractive economies, internet-driven consumption, colonialism, and the conceptual foundations of American whiteness.