Egypt Was a Test 2008
Matthew Barton’s multi-media sculptures and installations explore opposing forces through fantastical alternate realities based on imagination, nature, and kitsch.
Description
Matthew Barton’s multi-media sculptures and installations explore opposing forces through fantastical alternate realities based on imagination, nature, and kitsch. Inspired by comics, video games, and the democratic “reality world” footage of YouTube, Jacob Ciocci critiques the proliferation of imagery in mass culture and technology through kaleidoscopic videos, installations, paintings, and collages. He is also a member of the collective Paper Rad. Using both low- and high-tech aesthetics, Barton and Ciocci have collaborated here on a video and sculptural installation featuring a motorized wood-carved alien, embodying ambiguously a good and evil protagonist (savior and destroyer of human civilization), rising and descending in an alternately peaceful and terrifying animated video collage. Dark and menacing, yet utterly mesmerizing, the work presents a dichotomously ironic and sincere manifestation of the mysterious possibilities of extra-terrestrial salvation and destruction.
Curated by Heather Pesanti
Matt Barton (American, b. 1975) received both his BFA and Teaching Certification K-12 from Montana State University. He holds a MFA from Carnegie Mellon University. He is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.
Jacob Ciocci (American, b. 1977) received BA in Art fron Oberlin as well as minoring in Computer Science. He also recived his M.F.A. from Carnegie Mellon University. Ciocci works with technology and video remixes as well as paintings.