Daniel A Bruce "Bumpkin Dandy"
Dean Project
This event has ended.
“Bumpkin Dandy” features a new body of work that explores the contradictory nature of human materiality. Outwardly simple and straightforward, the intentionally callow configurations examine the complex cultural practice of transforming nature into aesthetic objects, calling into question certain views of folk art, artisanship, and aesthetics. High and low cultural practices clash in what Bruce terms a “bumpkin aesthetic”, which combines the awkward and unsophisticated with the ideals of artistic validity.
Exhibited as an installation, “Bumpkin Dandy” brings to mind a roadside attraction in the middle of the iconic American nowhere. The bright lights of the pared-down neon forms displayed together on the wall loom before visitors, guiding them through the darkness in a fashion similar to the alluring lights of roadside stops along the highway.
Feral on the Inside, featuring a pair of recognizable name-brand shoes, calls into question American culture and how we relate to nature through mediation, while Laborer Whirligig mimics novelty objects commonly referred to as collectibles and examines their significance in contemporary society.
This body of work ironically yet adversely represents the simple American lifestyle. Bruce focuses on the moment in the history of commodity in which sign-value takes precedence over use-value, exploring the transformation of nature into works of art and highlighting the suspect nature and ideological parameters of convention. The enticing works demand contemplation on the commodification of objects into art.
Media
Schedule
from March 01, 2012 to April 14, 2012
Opening Reception on 2012-03-01 from 18:00 to 20:00