This post begins a series that will become an overanalysis of MTV's Jersey Shore. Bet you didn't expect this to be the subject of a post, let alone a few of them. Hah!

Reality TV has always had a structured approach--contests, games, tasks, etc.--that is intended to produce an emotional range in the characters and viewers. Think of shows like the Bachelor, Survivor, or Road Rules. The casts of these shows change each season, and viewers follow the show because of its variety within the format. Jersey Shore is something altogether different.

I want to discuss the deeper levels of my work tonight. These thoughts all began in a studio visit with Josef Schultz, which was a little over a year ago, and are just now within my power to vocalize.

In one way, my work revolves around an almost religious debate. The surface and its revealed understructure mirror the myths of creation and the creations of myth. I make works that are representative of intangibles--objects and moments that we know are present but can't be directly observed. The Black Holes are three-dimensional objects that break down into voids with the willful suspension of disbelief and return to their existence as physical, man-made constructions when the viewing angle shifts.

I picked out these documentaries A) because I watched them recently and B) because they all have an unexpected common thread. The element that connects these films is the exploration of human psychology centered around a sense of entitlement. We see people from all parts of the economic spectrum who believe that they can possess amounts of money and time and that they can invest very little for gain.

I've been working with text for several months now, and I've come up with a series of prints stemming from small paintings and drawings on paper. Each painting was done on a 12" x 12" piece of paper, sliced, recombined, scanned, printed, and signed. The prints are in editions of 10 and will be available in the store very, very soon at a price of $20 each.

Here's the latest print I've executed. It's called Hypnotic Occurrences of Light and Shade. 8.5 x 11". Inkjet print on 42 lb. matte paper.

Just for kicks, I watched the old documentary This Is Modern Art, which is written, hosted and narrated by Matthew Collings. I always get a bit sick of hearing about Picasso and Pollock in modern art round-up documentaries, and this one is no exception. He does a pretty good job of explaining the dilemmas of postmodern art in a nonlinear way, which makes it more interesting to watch than a chronological account of current artists. It focuses a bit too much on the YBA's, but that's to be expected, given the production date (1999) and the fact that it's produced in the UK.

Is it worth watching? Yes. It's humorous, informative, and boasts an amazing soundtrack with cuts from The Modern Lovers, Squarepusher, and Boards of Canada. There are 6 episodes in all, and here's a link to the first part of the first episode on YouTube:

Me. Reflected in one of Violette's Blackouts/Blackholes.

So it's over a year ago that I was last in NYC, and I just rediscovered the photos I took during that trip. The most pleasant experience overall was a visit to Banks Violette at Gladstone Gallery, which ran from February 12 - April 17, 2010.

Walking into the show was a breath of fresh air. There was never a large crowd, and the pieces themselves seemed to demand silence. It was almost like walking into a Zen garden with structures still, dark, bright, and calming.