On Today

On Today is an open-ended program. The genesis was an exhibition opportunity at LUMP gallery in Raleigh, NC in 2016. The initial idea was to create 64 individual charcoal drawings of a single, predetermined composition. The drawings were originally driven by exploring questions about factory art production methodology, the idea of transcendence through quotidian labor, reflections of power dynamics, ideas of structural, or "object", drawings, attention to secular mysticism and drone philosophy, as well as speaking to the vernacular of repetitive band posters in urban environments.  The composition of the 64 drawings is also a reflection of the 32 soup cans (thus the number doubling) in Andy Warhol's first solo show at Ferus in '62. Because of this aspect the 64 original On Today drawings are priced at the initial sales price of Warhol's 32 cans to Irving Blum x2 and adjusted for inflation. This equation will remain intact until their sale.

This project has continued to unfold since its original inception. The first addition to the project was a collaboration with Austin, TX based theologic scholar, Dr. Gary Slater. Over the course of the production of the 64 drawings Dr. Slater and I were in consistent contact. I alluded to my intentions for the work, but did not spell out explicitly what my conceptual drivers were in order to leave the project open for his analysis. While I was producing the work, Dr. Slater was producing an interpretation of the project based on his line of inquiry. The resultant essay was then made into a newspaper, placed in a modified newspaper box in the gallery, and made available during the course of the exhibition, which ran from 2 September 2016 to 2 October 2016.

The project transferred mediums once again to an animation project. I took the 64 drawings and created a slowly unfolding video that plays out over just thirty minutes. From that I developed a full room projection piece utilizing the animation on infinite loop. 

The initial composition, always meant to imply but never indicate, changes meaning and interpretive potentials as the media and environment shift. This will continue to unfold in new ways. The next iteration, currently in progress, will be in book format, which will include the images of the 64 drawings and an expanded essay by Dr. Slater. Just as each day offers it own particular experience, so too does this project, as its format continues to shift.

An abbreviated version of the animation.