Bush Clinton Bush Obama [ ]

Statement

What if reality were a cyclical process? It contemplates the obsession of work in an over-classed workforce. Beyond what is old and new, what is progress and what is habit? The central figure in his office observes the mindless, ritualistic codification of labor. When a simple glitch is introduced to the mechanism, a break is offered and revolution takes over.

Bush Clinton Bush Obama [ ] is performance-turned-video: the choreography was planned, timed, and acted in a room of people and later cut into a video short. The translation of performance to video is a common discussion in media techniques; is it video art, or art documented as video? With this and The Third Living American Flag I directly challenged the confusion between art and documentation for it is both. What action or performative word changes an artwork (like performance or timed installations) into documentation, vice versa? With the ultimate medium in confusion, I imagined a character who is lost in time and stripped of motivation. He works but doesn't know what his work is doing, he must simply work. When the scrolling heads of Presidents is interrupted by a glitch, he takes the opportunity to commence his own work, however brief his interlude may be. That is a direct reflection of my studio practice while trying to make money to continue my practice. The never ending cycle of work (work<=>artwork) is punctuated by a moment of clarity.

Bush Clinton Bush Obama [ ]

2015

Dupioni silk, cotton, thread, wood, LED, glass, paper, velvet, telegraph key, matchbook, projector, video

Variable, 1920 x 1080 px