rag picker consisted of two exhibitions during september of 2013, one at susanne vielmetter LA projects in culver city, ca; and the other at crg gallery, in new york.
the works were a culmination of my 2011 research fellowship at the akedemie der kunste, looking at the notebooks of walter benjamin. these 2013 works expand upon earlier works based on the benjamin research through sound and drawing at the singuhr-horgalerie at meinblau kunsthaus in berlin, and a large scale video exhibition at los angeles contemporary exhibitions (both 2012).
the the 2013 exhibitions, i created a number of small bodies of work within the larger whole, featuring: a 4 turntable work that uses some of the symbols found in benjamin’s notebooks as graphic notation to generate sound actions; a series of small paintings based on a postcard from benjamin’s postcard collection; a series of large abstract body prints that utilized a series of colored marks from one of benjamin’s notebooks to determine the colors in the drawings; a series of plaster and cardboard sculpture with mirrors related to benjamin’s grave site; large scale paintings utilizing various graphic mistakes in the notebooks towards the building of imagery; and lastly a series of small drawings related to other graphic aspects of benjamin’s notebooks.
