Extension

I’ve just finished a whirlwind week of prepping proposal packages, organizing receipts for my accountant, and wresting a first draft out of my reluctant brain for a Cultural Theories paper.

It’s good to be busy. I seem to accomplish more when there is a lot to do. Guess it has to do with getting – and staying – in the rhythm.

Currently I have 8 Slim proposals out shakin’ their money-makers in various cities across Canada: Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, my hometown of London, Saskatchewan, Kelowna, and two other cities that I have listed in a spreadsheet but can’t recall because my brain is full of other information. One of the galleries asked artists to include a brief description for an “extension project” that would be mounted currently but externally from the gallery.

I proposed a series of 11”x17” Photoshop enhanced, colour photography posters that can be disseminated around town prior to and during the exhibition (think Adbusters meets creepy Muppets). The posters will feature a selection of figures from the Slim Shady series that will be on exhibit, removed from their gallery context and utilized as both models and still life. Using visual language borrowed from contemporary fashion and epicureal advertising along with the written command “CONSUME”, the posters will deliver a tongue-in-cheek critique of consumerism while additionally serving to invite the viewer to the gallery to visually consume the rest of the exhibit.

Here’s a very rough mock-up sketch that illustrates the general concept:

(sorry for the tiny image, I fought with the WordPress settings and lost)

Thinking about the series in a different context has fired up the Muse and I’ve been having all sorts of ideas on how the Slim Shady pieces can be reworked and presented in an entirely new way.