PreOccupied, 2012
In November 2011, I began talking about the Arab Spring in my classes and found myself looking out at blank stares. I asked my students to raise their hands if they had not heard of the term Arab Spring. Surprisingly, all the students’ hands in two classes went up, except for one, a member of the military. As he sat there looking down shaking his head, I realized that my students were completely unaware of the current global political and economic unrest almost a full year after it had started. Most, at that point, were also oblivious of the three-month-old Occupy Movement that was spreading across the U.S.
Because of this, I began to ask why it was, in the age of social media and instant information, that many people in this country, not just my students, were unaware of current global events -- events that included economic collapses, toppled governments, mass civilian deaths, and the overwhelming use of force against civilians. I observed that American mass media, specifically the network news shows, provides a minimal, glossed-over account of world conflicts, restricting the viewer’s knowledge and understanding of events beyond their television screen.
Focusing on the conflicts and uprisings, of 2011, in Greece, Libya, Syria, Egypt, Bahrain and New York, ‘PreOccupied’ brings to the forefront how consumers of American mass media are distracted by entertainment and disconnected from empathy.
The remote is available to you so that if you don’t like what is showing, change it.
These particular images were appropriated from first person videos that were shared via YouTube and social media outlets in order to serve as eyewitness accounts of the conflicts occurring in their respective countries. Created using woodblock ink, charcoal and oil pastel on wood panel. 48"x48" ea.
Because of this, I began to ask why it was, in the age of social media and instant information, that many people in this country, not just my students, were unaware of current global events -- events that included economic collapses, toppled governments, mass civilian deaths, and the overwhelming use of force against civilians. I observed that American mass media, specifically the network news shows, provides a minimal, glossed-over account of world conflicts, restricting the viewer’s knowledge and understanding of events beyond their television screen.
Focusing on the conflicts and uprisings, of 2011, in Greece, Libya, Syria, Egypt, Bahrain and New York, ‘PreOccupied’ brings to the forefront how consumers of American mass media are distracted by entertainment and disconnected from empathy.
The remote is available to you so that if you don’t like what is showing, change it.
These particular images were appropriated from first person videos that were shared via YouTube and social media outlets in order to serve as eyewitness accounts of the conflicts occurring in their respective countries. Created using woodblock ink, charcoal and oil pastel on wood panel. 48"x48" ea.
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Exhibition Walkthrough
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PreOccupied, Curtis R. Harley Art Gallery, USC Upstate, Spartanburg, SC
Greece, 2011, ArtFields, Joe's Barber Shop,in Lake City, SC, Apr.25 - May 5, 2014
PreOccupied, Rebecca Randall Bryan Art Gallery at Coastal Carolina University May 19 - June 21, 2014.
PreOccupied, Gallery Luperca (KT Wolf Gallery), Nashville, TN, April 2015.
Greece, 2011, ArtFields, Joe's Barber Shop,in Lake City, SC, Apr.25 - May 5, 2014
PreOccupied, Rebecca Randall Bryan Art Gallery at Coastal Carolina University May 19 - June 21, 2014.
PreOccupied, Gallery Luperca (KT Wolf Gallery), Nashville, TN, April 2015.
PreOccupied Lecture, The Recorded Image: Technological Advances v. Social Change - recorded at the University of South Carolina Upstate, May 10, 2012.
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Lecture Intro
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Lecture
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Post Lecture Discussion
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