Installation Views

My wife Katy helped me with the installation which took one long day. The strings are held away from the wall by 1/8th inch bar stock. At a couple of points it projects 4 feet away from the wall. The sound piece is being played continuously. Overall I feel it is a successful piece.

Gift Economy at Gallery East

It's up! The show runs through December 10th.
The artist reception will be December 4th from 6:30-8:00.

Gallery East
College of Eastern Utah
451 East 400 North
Price, UT 84501

More Works in Progress

So one of my major goals here is to create an art object that is aesthetically successful. I'd love some feedback on that. And feel free to give criticism here.

Sarah's Questions

Sarah had some good questions. She said, "Help me out with additional explanations for "topographical imagery, networked lines, textile designs, and language." I enjoy abstraction a lot more when I know more about what it means. (is that a contradiction?)
I'm also not clear on what exactly you mean by a fictional culture. I feel like I have a good grasp on what culture is but I'm not sure not how you would create one through a painting.
Hopefully I'm not bringing down the group here--don't cast your pearls before swine or anything--its just that my right brain needs developing."

I'm guessing she isn't the only one confused here. I have no pearls and know no swine, but here you go:

Topographical imagery: One of the major compositional components of each painting is a map. Sometimes it looks more like explosions when it's finished, but it starts as a map.

Networked lines: Looking closed you'll see lot's of straight lines that all come together at random points. These are symbolic of an economic system where people are exchanging goods as gifts. The lines are the exchanges, the points are the people.

Textile designs: They started out as patterns a culture might use in textile. Now they're very organic, but the stripes of wavy lines are what I'm talking about.

Language: The numbers are my culture's language.

Each of these elements is part of the "fictional culture" I referred to. It isn't terribly detailed or fleshed out. In the end, when all of the paintings, string installation, and audio piece are put together it should create a unique experience. I'm hoping that that experience feels other-worldly or slightly displaced from reality. I'm going for that state of consciousness you have when you're lost in a good book.

$60,000 Paintings for Free

Katy's comment on that last post brought up a question about titles. I think I'm going to use the titles of these paintings to critique artificial art values. It's strange when artists price their work really high even if it isn't selling. It's like they think they can create value with nothing more than "positive mental attitude". Forget supply and demand I guess. I also think it is interesting that the price tag on a work of art affects the way it is viewed. This has been discussed in earlier comments so I won't dwell on it too much, but your perception of an artwork is often influenced by its price tag.

My idea is to title my pieces with a dollar value. For example the title of the work might be $45,000. Since the title will be right there where people are used to seeing price tags they won't know the difference. Many people will look at the piece and think "Hmmm... that's an okayish piece of art. Whoa! $45,000? Are you kidding me? He must be a really good artist." Some people will immediately have more respect for the work because it is now a Jaguar instead of a Hyundai. Others will be ticked off that (they believe) some loser artist is raking in a year's salary with a single painting sale. Some will be annoyed that an obviously amateur artist is overpricing his work.

Of course this whole concept goes back to that discussion about whether art is a gift or a commodity. In my own work I like the idea of more art, less business. Any thoughts?

Works in Progress

Here's what I'm coming up with. In this triptych you'll see the topographical imagery, networked lines, textile designs, and language that represent my fictional culture. I made up a font for the numbers so that it would look like an unknown language. Hopefully they are still legible. The numbers (reading across all three panels) should read: 7825328483 82583 263 2229 3427377. The networked lines represent the system of gift giving that drives the culture. What's working here? What part do you hate?

My Prediction? Text.

I've started using numbers in my art to represent communication and language. Specifically I'm using numbers that would create words if you were to type them into your phone's text messaging app. Up until now those words haven't been terribly important, but I'm thinking about making their messages more specific. Perhaps they will make a sentence that describes some concept the piece is dealing with.

Pros: 1. Some people think codes are cool. 2. Some people will get into the 'interactivness' of the work. 3. Concepts can be overtly stated without being written in your face. 4. It's an awesome reference to contemporary culture.

Cons: 1. Most people will never know the numbers mean anything. 2. It might require too much work for the viewer. 3. People might resort to reading the text instead of coming up with their own interpretations. 4. It might be distracting.

Opinions?