[dNASAb] = disney NASA borg; aka: “Disney”.
Like the work he creates, [dNASAb] is a communicator and a networker, a constant source of engaging energy and visual and conceptual movement. Adjacent to the “pseudonymn” and the “persona” creatively engineered ostensibly to promote the work, lies a real and genuine person, gregarious and true to self. To separate the work from the artist is sometimes possible; yet can the artist be separated from the work? In [dNASAb]’s case, the answer is never. Disney is what Disney does. The honesty of endeavor and self are visible and immediately apparent.
[dNASAb] works in a range of media both two and three-dimensionally. His paintings and drawings are ambitious in scale and complexity of surface, intricate networks of marks recalling the work of contemporary giant Julie Mehretsu yet with the incorporation of more painterly aspects of color and texture, strokes of the brush. On the other hand, the three-dimensional works are his paintings exploded and released from their flat surfaces with an added dimension of time: colored light, fiber optics, moving image, and sound.
[dNASAb]’s IPod Ecosystems are sculptural seductions of energy and light. Fashioned from insulation foam and the recycled, carefully cut bits and lengths of plastic, aluminum, and foam shells of soft drink containers, these precious micro universes are enhanced with light transmitting materials and the small liquid crystal display screens of nestled IPods or ChiPods, intact or manipulated, which transmit an original synthesized video and soundtrack. Fed by an electrical connection, the result is a constant interchange of self-contained energy and luminous color that connects to the sensory receptors of the viewer. This perceived energy is processed by the viewer into a form of cognition providing life to these circuit sustained inanimate objects. Standing within an installation of his work is analogous to the sensory experience of being within a Midwest corn field in late autumn: the rustling of the drying cornstalks, the sound of the breeze, the muted chattering of insects, a call from a red winged black bird, the quality of light. The communication of nature invoked by [dNASAb]’s electronic “life forms” and their unconventional qualities border on the metaphysical, even the spiritual.
[dNASAb]’s art historical influence, Nam June Paik, who exhibited the first television sculpture in 1963 and, as a member of Fluxus, the first artist’s video in 1965, explored the “fetishism” of television: the concept of the household screen that both delivered the electronic surrogate of virtual life as well selected the information and its content and focus to contribute to the formation of an individual and collective consciousness. [dNASAb] references the “fetishism of modern consumers for mobile electronic devices” that extends to the cult of contemporary consumerism in general, as, no longer merely surrogates of life, these devices become a means of self-definition, as does the choice of clothing, tattoos, or hair style and color. Questions about our era of consumerism and the growth of technology, its impact upon the sense of self and place, the role of the corporation and the market place in guiding and, frankly, determining identity are evoked by [dNASAb]’s work. Yet seeing and spending time, discovering the intricacies of structure, is as much a lure, and the appeal of his work.
[dNASAb] = aka Disney: the irony of an unordinary formal beauty combined with contemporary philosophical discourse; our societal ambivalence regarding the role of technology; or as the quote in Disney’s email signature exhorts: “As an American artist, I realize the real enemy is the ‘disneyfication’ of everything”. There is something about [dNASAb]’s work that conjures thoughts of the epic search of the four main characters in “The Wizard of Oz” which ends in their own self-enlightenment, as well as the great paintings of the Counter-Reformation as, in theme, the mystical experience can happen to anyone, anyplace, and in anytime.
r. grover 01/12/08
A native of Florida, {dNASAb] has lived and maintained a studio in the Williamsburg area of Brooklyn, NY, since 1997. Active in the arts scene of both Brooklyn and Manhattan, he is a frequent participator in projects conducted by the Perpetual Art Machine, a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of ‘new media’ art. He holds a BFA in Sculpture and Mixed Media (1994) from Florida State University, Tallahassee, and was awarded an International Residency at the Experimental Television Center (2006), Alfred University, NY, where he worked with the “Wobulator” Nam Jun Paik’s pioneering video synthesizer, an invention of Paik’s in collaboration with ABE. Recent 2007 exhibitions include “Video Art in the Age of the Internet”, Chelsea Art Museum, NY, curated by Nina Pelosi and the Perpetual Art Machine founders, “10 plus 10”, Marc DePuercherdon Gallery, Basel, Switzerland; and “Particulate” at LumpWest Gallery, Eugene, OR; and a solo exhibition at the Galleries at Peeler, University of DePauw, IN. Past exhibition highlights include “All Systems Go” (2006) curated by Marisa Olsen for Rhizome at Scope New York (2006), “Hey Hot Shot” (2005) Jen Bekman Gallery, NY; “Obscure Sexual habits of Wireless Data” (2005) one-person exhibition at Romo Gallery, Atlanta, GA; and “Unframed First Look” (2004) curated by Cindy Sherman, Jack Pierson, and Adam Fuss, Sean Kelly Gallery, NY.
Cluster
