Artist's Resume

Another attempt to explain my self,  anonymous nihilistic metropolis (left) and the crazy City of Gears!  (right)

HEY APATHY! Is an ongoing artistic investigation into the dynamic relationship between functioning of the metropolis and the individuals of which it is composed. Using a multi-media amalgamation of popular culture and fine artworks including drawings, comics, animations, and performances, the project expresses a stern, yet optimistic warning towards our future. Primarily concerned with creating a visual vocabulary simultaneously intellectually provocative and accessible to viewers of all ages, the drawings utilize cartoon like imagery to incite dialogue regarding topics of great concern. The social significance of this anthropological exploration will be examined through a brief analysis of the projects overall development, current practices, and near future.

 

The entire body of HEY APATHY! artworks reads like an unconscious narrative inquiry into the identity of the metropolis. In the earliest drawings the city is announced as an ominous gear propelled by an endless sea of faceless denizens. At that time (2001) I was working out of the seclusion of a suburban basement and envisioned the urban landscape as a conglomeration of misdirected commercial and superficial ideologies. In order to better understand the phenomena in question, I hypothesized an unconventional interview in which an exploration of the lives, motivations, and goals of others would aid in my epistemological quest. I have since initiated this interview through a perpetually public process including gallery & festival exhibitions, wall murals and street interventions. Through this constant and aggressive public immersion, I have engaged in unparalleled interactions with peoples from all over the world and of all walks of life. The artworks are created, exhibited, and discussed entirely in front of live audiences presenting a unique, unusual, and uncompromising approach to artistic communication. In more recent artworks the city remains as a giant gear, only now it is all the unique individuals, not anonymous cogs, who fuel the machine.

 

As a result of my public experiments, the project has assimilated various multi-media presentation techniques. Facilitated by the necessity to communicate inclusively , HEY APATHY! incorporates animations, comics, fashion, and fine art. While the original drawings maintain the craftsmanship and exclusivity associated with the gallery setting, the accessible artworks and merchandising have permitted a wide spread dialogue capable of connecting with vast and varied audiences. In my current practice I am developing an online forum in which my public process and performances can be regularly documented and shared on a global scale. Using live streaming, social networks, and web comics, I intend to extend my intervention and exhibition processes in accordance with modern communications. Similar to my street performances, the online project will feature full disclosure of all creative processes including daily sketches, forums, and stories, weekly live paintings, and annual fine art exhibitions . The ultimate goal being the expansion of the alternative expressions I’ve presented on a small scale in the streets and galleries, to include a global audience. The internet exploration has the potential to invite masses of unassuming viewers into the positive, challenging and stimulating dialogue known as HEY APATHY!