I received an email earlier this week pressing me for the artist statement and title for the show in May. Quite honestly I didn’t have either, so this evening I sat down with a new notebook which I had picked up from Rock, Paper, Scissor in Wiscassett, ME. I began by writing some of the things which I’ve been thinking over and over while creating this work, and then slowly started to develop some more coherent thoughts. Here’s the artist statement in its totality.
“The Dinosaurs of Industry past loom over its creators; ineffectual reminders of bygone eras when a symbiotic relationship between man and machine seemed the answer to the meaning of life. The current decade witnesses a hopeful return to work and the Earth, a desire to mutually benefit our fellow man by keeping our money close to home. We are becoming more interested in the Earth and what it takes to preserve our habitat. Naturally, we proceed as a species until we realize effect and then we attempt to bandage the wounds after the bleeding has reached a critical level.
In contrast to the things we have broken are the remaining edifices of the planet; plants, animals, fungi, and geological environments both big and small. Our perception of these naturally occurring elements is through a lens of mathematics, a sacred geometry. Geometry, with its clear cut answers, logic, and certainty approaches the holy. We feel the aura which Walter Benjamin claims is only evident in the authentic artifact.
The Dinosaurs of Industry and the Rhythm of Man is a series of drawings, paintings and three dimensional objects, utilizing pattern as well as depictions of antiquated technology and living matter to commence a dialogue on a present day computer aided eco-friendly society.”
The work is starting to really take shape. I’ve been cleaning work up and making it as tight as I can. I feel like this show is going to be the best example of my work since 2007. I’m really hope that it is received well.
For those of you in Maine. The show is at Central Gallery in Bangor, ME on the second of May at 7 PM. It would be lovely to see you there.
Peace
-Mike
