A memorial for my grandfather, belief systems, and the pre-Internet scam economy.
Installed in the New Mexican desert, Summer 2019.
Constructed from artifacts of predatory transactions my grandfather bought into during his life: an upright freezer, a headlight from a Toyota Avalon, 5 decorative plates, penny stock certificates, 40 catholic votive candles and tourist paraphernalia from Branson, MO.
This public sculpture sits on a 1/4 acre plot of land sold to my grandpa in 1973 by a door-to-door salesman, a place to “build his retirement home.”
The site is 11 miles from the closest paved road in an undeveloped flood plain. No one else from my family has ever even seen the plot.
The monument is the subject of a video I'm making with my family.
A collective post-consumer endeavor held at the Fulfillment Center in Denver, CO. Amazon boxes were collected from all over the country to be used in an opening ceremony modeled after the balloon releases of public celebrations and political rallies.
Commissioned by Black Cube Nomadic Museum; curated by Cortney Lane Stell.
A 30 min music/video essay situates this opening event within a history of excess and naïveté in mass celebratory spectacle, deflating recent fanfare around mass commercial development projects in the logistics and manufacturing sectors.
In the film's final scene, 500 Smile boxes rain from the ceiling like empty promises, untangling the complex relationship between politics and economic development that underlies these voracious—and nearly unregulated—“Megadeals.”
Thanks to: Don Edler, Cortney Stell, Hannah James, Gretchen Schaefer, Derrick Velasquez, Nicole Elliot, El Meek, Catherine Nelson, Maggie Keenan, Stacy Sawyer, Livy Snyder, Avery Glassman, Bryce Walsh, Nathan Beck, Hadia Nelson, Isla Hansen, Tucker Marder, Theo Triantafyllidis, Gottfried Haider, Ariel Herwitz, Laura Hyunjhee Kim, John Dombrowski, Lauren Yeager, Misael Soto, Rob Southard, Casey Kauffmann, Dave Kyu, Ian Charnas, Tatiana Vahan, Kara Hearn and Laura Dillon.
A series of 25 dog toys, live music performance, video diary of my chihuahua “Mr. President,” and accompanying text.
Solo exhibitions at Ditch Projects (OR, above), House Guest (LA), Navel (LA), and a group exhibition at Roger's Office (LA).
Review of the show at House Guest by Emma Kemp.
Thanks to Don Edler, Patrick Ballard, Chris Ballard & Karina Korol, Andy Bennett & Colleen Hargaden, Chelsea Couch, Aja Segapeli, Steph Kretovicz, Amanda Vincelli, my neighbors in Arlington Heights, my mechanic Bobby, my landlady Rosemarie, Temple Willoughby, Gu.
Back home we have a saying: “the marching goes on even when dogs bark.”
If he thinks he can scare us with the sound of a dog barking, that’s really a dog dream.
- North Korea’s foreign minister Ri Yong-ho
September 19, 2017
The only time Rodrigo Duterte gets to eat is during chopper or car rides in between events. On one chopper ride, he is handed a carton of coconut water to fend off the intense summer heat. He gives the carton to me with the advice, “Hydration is very important.” >>>>
On Trump Force One there are four major food groups: McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken, pizza and Diet Coke. The plane’s cupboards are stacked with Vienna Fingers, potato chips, pretzels and many packages of Oreos because Trump, a renowned germaphobe, will not eat from a previously opened package. >>>>
Suddenly, Duterte grabs the lukewarm carton I’m drinking from and hands me his chilled carton instead. He drinks from my half-empty carton without a moment’s hesitation. >>>>
As a young student in Switzerland, Kim Jong Un wears Nike Air Jordans and spends hours making meticulous pencil drawings of Chicago Bulls superstar Michael Jordan. >>>>
Mr. Trump’s American coat of arms belongs to another family. The regal emblem, used at President Trump’s golf courses across the United States, displays three lions and two chevrons on a shield, below a gloved hand gripping an arrow. >>>>
It was granted by British authorities in 1939 to Joseph Edward Davies, the socialite who built the Mar-a-Lago resort that is now Mr. Trump’s cherished getaway. While prohibited from using the brand in the UK, at home the Trump Organization has taken Mr. Davies’s coat of arms for its own. >>>>
Mar-a-Lago's logo replicates the design nearly identically, with one small adjustment: replacing the word “Integritas,” Latin for integrity, with “Trump.” It is used on the company’s website, emblazoned on golf balls, shirts and bottles of body lotion. >>>>
Are defenses giving Vladimir Putin too much space or is the Russian President just that good at hockey? "Are you coming around the 2nd or before? If so, please can you bring a copy of Harry Potter Deathly Hallows Part 2?” writes Asma Assad in one leaked email. He skates fine in a straight line, but his turning radius exhibits the grace of a 500 foot-long Russian battleship. >>>>
President Trump reaches over to a small wooden box in the corner of the desk emblazoned with the letters POTUS, and presses the little red button on top. From the adjoining kitchen, a navel steward enters the Oval Office, carrying a tall glass of Diet Coke with ice. >>>>
What makes this crown prince the world’s most powerful millennial? Mohammed bin Salman works 16-hour days and draws inspiration from the writings of Winston Churchill and Sun Tzu's "The Art of War.” >>>>
Putin has an eighth-degree black belt and is named Grandmaster of Taekwondo even though he doesn’t practice the sport. He now ranks higher than Chuck Norris. >>>>
According to a former political adviser, Donald Trump “uses a weird bottle of hair spray. It’s bigger than the biggest can of beer.” He has never taken a drink of alcohol.
>>>>
While his father was once named the largest single buyer of Hennessy cognac, Kim’s current spending reflects similar tastes. The family’s chef Kenji Fujimoto once quoted Kim Jong Il favoring his younger son, saying “The big one [Kim Jong-chul] has a weak heart and is feminine, but the young one is manly.” >>>>
MBS uses a proxy to purchase the most expensive painting in the world, the only privately-owned Da Vinci. ‘Salvator Mundi’— Savior of the World—depicts a Renaissance Christ holding a crystal ball in his left hand. >>>>
Despite it being illegal to import films in North Korea, Kim Jong Un has an impressive collection of 20,000 movies on DVD, many of them from the west. His film tastes are said to range from American classics like Rambo and Godzilla to Friday the 13th, with a particular love for Jean Claude Van Dam. >>>>
Trump’s secret weapon appears to be Farouk Systems’ “CHI Helmet Head” — a “humidity-resistant fast-drying hair spray.” Another Assad family email includes an amazon link to a fondue set with the note “Pls can we get one?”
>>>>
Donald loves the smell. He doesn’t like people touching his hair. In Korean parlance, a dog dream is one that is scattered, meaningless, with no coherence or predictive wisdom.
The show at Ditch Projects included a Dogs-Only Vernissage.
Strength&Patience is a 7 min video shot the day after Trump's speech to the UN General Assembly, in which he threatened to "totally destroy North Korea." Attempting to make sense of these horrific words, I asked everyone I encountered that day to read the President's infamous sound byte for the camera.
An ongoing music + video performance (excerpts of live performances). Included in the Fondle Tour, a recurring 3-person event with Megan Snowe and Mitra Saboury.
You make a better window than a window
