Hello Coaxial Arts!
Thanks for checking out the “guesswork” screening.
“guesswork” is a mixture of performance for video, experimental narrative, experimental documentary, and video essay spanning the last 20+ years of work. The screening highlights my broad practice in approach but also subject matter ranging from the artist's teenage Jackass-like antics, surveillance culture, to speculative narratives surrounding the ramifications of climate change.
Title: We weren’t bored.
Statement: This excerpt is from a larger body of work involving hours of video my group of friends shot from the ages of sixteen to about twenty two. We wanted to make a skate video but weren’t all that good at skateboarding so it mostly shifted into antics, pranks and stunts. The parts of the skate videos I always gravitated to the most. This ended up becoming more of a document of a certain point and time in our lives. We were always shooting for “the video” but were seemingly more interested in making stuff happen instead of sitting down and editing the footage together. I’ve slowly started putting these things together. I’m still friends with everyone from this krew.
I didn’t know it at the time but this gave me a firm foundation for making performance art in the future. It taught me how to work with people in a group to find and accomplish common goals and what it meant to work with that group to accomplish these goals. It taught me to how to take risks for a common goal. It also gave me a strong understanding of the limits of the human body. It was also a lot of fun. I probably would not be making art if it weren’t for this time and period.
Year: 1999 - ongoing
Title: my intimate relationship with the TSA
Statement: This series documents how my body or my property is pushed to engage with the personnel of the TSA.
Year: 2016 - present
Title: methods for composing random compositions
Statement: Arising from my investigations into the social and political implications of audio deterrents, sonic weaponry, and noise music I have inserted myself into these videos involving chance and non-musical objects which generate sound for duration-based compositions. The props employed for the performances were selected for their ability to produce sound through their use. Some of the props have more sonic warfare tendencies with explosive qualities such as the bomb bags, rat traps or confetti poppers, while others -- such as soap bottles or wind up teeth -- have less of a violent presence and focus more on the function of the prop and its influence over the duration of the performance.
The performances are determined by setting parameters for the beginning and end. The beginning consists of activating the props and the end happens when all potential for sound becomes extinct. The space in between these two parameters is where the composition takes place. I cannot control how these props function or how long it takes for them to perform their duty in the performance, which is a determining factor in the length of the piece. The objective to be accomplished is a key factor in the duration of the performances and at times is not simply determined by the props but by my physical restraints. I encourage a space of artistic production where failure is welcomed and control is largely ceded to circumstance.
Year: 2012
Title: Shadow Puppets in Front of Paintings
Statement: Shadow Puppets in Front of Paintings was a Collaborative performance with Nicholas O'Brien. This performance playfully suggests how the standards of interactive art have seemingly rendered traditional museums obsolete.
Year: 2012
Title: surveillance²
Statement: surveillance² is an experiment in the subversion of authority through the aesthetics of authority. By affixing a mock security camera to block the view of a functioning CCTV camera the perceived threat of the presence of the camera is doubled but ultimately rendered useless.
Year: 2014
Title: Protest Etiquette
Statement: ‘Protest Etiquette' is a response to the “centrist” cry for civility. This cry shifts its criticism to the behaviors of those protesting injustice, instead of the actual injustices. It sidesteps any real momentum for the sake of not appearing rude.
Year: 2020
Title: the desert
Statement: The Desert is a speculative fiction narrative about a near future and the events that lead to environmental collapse on planet earth. The work utilizes existing desert and declining landscapes to depict the future of our planet.
Year: 2023 work in progress