Art of Complexity
3.5" x 4.75" closed
8" x 4.75" open
Copper, Steel, Brass, Oil, Acrylic, Cardboard, Sumi paper
2010
Intrusive thoughts
Bit Boxes
Bit Boxes
The amalgam that is the Bit Box piece is a study of layered meaning in a visceral and emotional circumstance. Though abstract, it attempts to tackle aspects of the imposter syndrome, power, complexity, and mysteries of persistence through time. This is achieved and represented by the stacking of all kinds of materials and representations. In the end, each component of this piece ultimately becomes an abstract expressive piece that can operate independently.
A combination of filtering hoarded material through conceptual means and dealing with highly personal mental issues results in a convoluted and complex, segmented work of art.
Layers of layers
Bit boxes are the manifestation of layering complexities of martial and concept on top of each other in an expressive manner. Each black lacquered box contains a 3” x 4” stretched canvas coated in 2 layers of paintings; each of which is a mosaic when all the boxes are opened and assembled. Each of these canvases also has a distinct binary string that stands for a letter on them. The bottom underpainting’s binary is strung together with a thin brass wire. One painting is mask, the other a symbol common to power buttons. The underpainting itself is probably only detectable by x-ray. Lacquered on the lid is a key to the binary, however this only deciphers one of the strings. If this wasn’t enough, each box also contains a folded sheet of Sumi paper with an Internet Time stamp on the cover and a riddle on the inside. Each riddle has the same answer.
Indecisions
I knew I wanted to make boxes from the cardboard. I knew I wanted to put the canvases in those boxes, and I knew I wanted to incorporate binary. I also knew I wanted Internet Time involved , as well as riddles. The trouble was, what to put on those canvases to serve themes already desired. I reflected on the Warriors of Childhood and the influences of masks. I also reflected on my mental state outside of the piece during the conceptualization, and wanted to represent a powerlessness through a common symbol. This is how the approach, meanings, and style of the piece came about. Perhaps my confusion over representations and confronting the blank canvas were also indicative of my mental state at the time.
The riddle is always the same…
Hoarding
It is possible to say that any artist is a hoarder to some extent, and mine encompasses the physical as much as the conceptual. As I researched and developed the binary reduction so present in my current and future work, I was digging into multiples of things. This was reflective of the search for easily abundant materials to represent the binary. I hoarded some small canvases and cardboard from discontinued items when I worked at an art supply store, and they all came together in this work.
