Thursday, October 27, 2011

Vagtastic!



My solo show at Kresge Art Center opened up last week. Above is a video walk through of the gallery installation, and below I have some screen shots from the three videos I showed, as well as some other images.



Above is a screen shot from the video Abstract Music Video, #1. To create this video, I filmed myself in front of a green screen, applied a mirroring effect using Adobe After Effects, edited out the screen and layered it on top of a found piece of video, in a fashion reminiscent of collage.




In the film, the deer head used is a real taxidermy buck head; I hollowed it out, riveted leather straps with a buckle to it, and strapped it onto my face. My goal was to create an androgynous being that possessed all qualities of 'gender', to illustrate freedom from social constraint and unrestrained expression, whether it be artistic or personal.




Within the video is a transition from a colorful world to a colorless one. Meant as a reflection of the coming out process, this particular video combines celebration with premonition as the video shifts between artificial constructs and the underlying, gritty, reality.



The piece featuring the mermaid is the one displayed inside the fish tank. Its a comment on stereotypes but also the disparity between reality and fictitious constructions.


Drunken butch mermaids are hilarious in the worst way.

The final piece I included in the show, Origin of the World II, deals with representation, the inconsistencies between public/private life, and the concept of ownership over image and bodies in art and representation.




Warning: it is NOT a real eye.

Here are some more photos from the show:

Blue jean mermaid tail, made out of two pairs of jeans sewn together.

Taxidermy deer head piece.



Above is the artist bio that I painted on the wall adjacent to the doors.



At the opening of the show, I served only hot dogs to create an audience interactive performance piece demonstrating the destruction of phallic icons. In total, 68 hot dogs were consumed/lost their lives.

To end this post I would like to share some sketches/character art I did in preparation of filming.


The butch mermaid is still funny.
Thanks for reading! Check in soon for another update.


No comments:

Post a Comment