I find value in disregarded cultural trash. Our decompression tendencies expose our guilty pleasures. We choose to disengage, and the distraction is a privilege. Can worth be reinstated to this slacker behavior if examined against art history?
Through satirical humor, I hope to suggest a critique of our learned art world, challenging obvious assumptions we routinely accept and enact. Stereotypes and generalizations of hierarchical materials visually wrestle for the spotlight. Expectations of what is considered historically or culturally valuable are exaggerated for these compositional battles. With heroic art practices such as oil painting and the structural trust gained through my sculptural forms, I defend the integrity of conceptual art.
This contemporary issue is reflected in an art historical context in an article written by Emma Brockes about minimalist Carl Andres. They state, "We live in a linguistic culture and everything has to be turned into language. People don't understand anything until you've explained it." This is a form of visual obtuseness that comes from being raised on television – "which absolutely deadens the imagination and deadens the senses. You just sit there with your mouth open."