It’s been a few years since I graduated from MSUM, and it’s time I put my senior show online. This is just a rough sketch of what the page will be — later there will be construction photos, schematics and plans for the artworks, as well as errata like working gallery code. It’s all piled up, and just needs to be sorted and presented in a reasonable way.

I have to say, I’m proud of, and still agree with my artist statement from that time.

One of the fundamental problems with the visual arts is their one-way nature; you can’t effectively argue with a painting, just like you can’t argue with your television. The resulting heirarchy is difficult to upset- particularly because in the eyes of the artist, the museum, and the corporation, we are the receptacles for their output — their viewers, their audiences, and their consumers.

One solution to this problem is non-participation. Don’t buy the pants, don’t pay the admission. Turn off the TV, even. But a non action isn’t often a very effective action, and it’s extremely difficult to maintiain, outside of dying.

So, rather than making images about the evils of consumer culture, which are easily ignored and inevitably commodified, I’m proposing a means to an alternative lifestyle — one of personal action. A great many of us have the time and ability to make small, active resistances without great pains. I’ve conceived of a handmade purse against Ashcroft and his PATRIOT act, pants against branding, and simple technologies like bricks against surveillance cameras. I’m sure you can think of better ones.

Now that the show at the Plains has been taken down, I’m making the images available here.

Plains Art Museum, Exterior.
Cafe Muse, Late Afternoon.
Inside the Plains Art Museum.
Behind the Plains Art Museum.

Enjoy.

In support of our Company’s goal of increasing quality and quantity of graffiti everywhere, the Fakeproject Corporation of America has issued a coloring book, free of charge,which allows graffiti artists to hone their tagging skills before application in real world situations.

If you, the artist, actually intend to use the book, please download the high-resolution PDF.

FPCoA wishes you good health and not death. Please, take some time to review other things we’ve made available.

Tomorrow night is the L.I.V.E event at the Plains — the Fargo Forum has an article up, featuring an image of my work. [PDF]

I also had the good fortune of being featured in the MSUM College of Arts and Humanities Newsletter.

Times change, but the message doesn’t.

Neither do the post-tragedy trinket sales.

Some updates around the site — check the front page, for example.

The most obvious updates were aesthetic, but the most important updates were making the content around here more easily accessible. No wading through entries to browse pictures, posters, or projects — it’s all there on the front page.

For now, later.

Update: I’ll be playing at 10pm, sharp.

Update: Better link to more information about the show.

You may have seen the previous notice or two about my show in the Plains Art Museum. I’m lucky enough to have another one coming up, this time an audio-video show much like the Winter Carnivale performances I’ve done in years past.

This will be the first public musical performance I’ve done in over two years.

I’ll be on in the middle of the evening, I’m guessing around 10, but don’t know exactly. I’ll be performing a 25 minute set of live music, accompanied by video.

Very little more information here.

Megh showed up around the time that I completed my lens adapter. It needed testing; we needed food. A morning walk together proved that all the setup was worth it.

One of the problems with current DV cameras is the lack of Depth of Field (DOF). Put very simply, if you want to have a foreground object in focus, and a background blurred, you need a large sensor and a large aperture, neither of which are available on a tiny video camera. Of course, there is a hack, and that hack is to make a 35mm lens adapter.

For lenses, I chose to use the “M42″ mount, which allows me to use some lenses that I acquired while in Russia. To make the thing work, you use the 35mm lens as it was intended to be used — projecting onto a piece of film, or in this case, ground glass. Actually, in my design, I used a diffusing film from an LCD monitor instead of ground glass, but the effect is the same. Finally, you tape the image of the projection using your small sensor and aperture, and get a much more pleasing image.

For the moment, this is just a set of three images of the device. As time permits, I may write up a tutorial and a discussion of LCD film technology.

Don’t miss my show at the Plains Art Museum. Thanks to everyone who has gone, and especially to those who have provided feedback.

A brief celebration of America, courtesy of Fakeproject founding member, Shaun Fort.

Not safe for work, children, or adults.