I've Always Wanted to be George Jones, and Now I Am Exquisite City, Chicago Cultural Center/Tourism Center, 2009    "I've always wanted to be George Jones, and now I am. At least we've still got our girls, two black cats that look the same. Now I write my songs in a cave with a bottle of whisky and pills.." Sheeeeeet Wall Open Studio, 1213 Sharp, Chicago, 2008    Collaboration with Ryan Richey. Sheeeeeeeet Wall is a constructed a wall using found materials from an artist’s studio including paint cans, clothings, and furnitures. Folk/thrash duo Hannis Pannis performed behind the wall. I Write Songs in a Cave Retreat, Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, 2008    "Six
months of hiding out in a cave, meeting Hannis once a week to play
songs for each other. Sometimes I sleep there. The most number of
people I saw at once was six, when I bought a Heineken keg, everyone
was invited. Pyong got drunk of two glasses, Zac cooked us oodles of
noodles, and Jay Son dropped by for a hot minute before he leaves for
his nap. The cave is my studio. There was a time when I think it’s a good idea to shut myself in and call it therapy. Didn’t work. The cave was well-stocked with endless supply of whisky, canned soup, and self-preserving snack foods. The lack of sunshine and vitamin C reinforced my misery. Black hair turned into white hair, I drank myself old. I have turned into Salinger, I have turned into Pollock. I have turned into a mystic." I
Write Songs in a Cave is an inhabitable cave made of cardboard and
wood. The interior is littered with cardboard writing utensils, empty
bottles, and sheets of paper. Mountain Out Of Molehills Work Site, Estudiotres, Chicago, 2008    "I used to not want anyone to know I¢m sad, but now I put on a parade whenever it happens." It's Time For You to Laugh Instead of CryingIn Mountain out of Molehills each cardboard city block is a facsimile of a significant place in Chicago. The blocks are small and detailed at the same time, showing the maker's indifference and obsession at once and making insignificant events into something tremendous. For some reason we remember the sad places better than the happy ones. Arrest Your Cardiac, Contemporary Art Workshop, Chicago, 2008    It’s Time For You to Laugh Instead of Crying is a ceiling installation consisted of 33 polyfil clouds with texts of friendly parental advices on the surfaces. Ten Eleven (A.K.A. Disaster City) MFA Thesis Exhibition, Gallery 2 and Project Space, Chicago, 2008    The
city represents catastrophe on a personal level, and 10/11 is the date
- 6 years and one month after the WTC attack. The city is frozen in tie
midst of destruction by heartache, illness, and sad music. In the
background, Dusty Springfield impersonators provide a soundtrack for
devastation. Audio component (MP3): All I See Is You, I Close My Eyes and Count to Ten, You Don't Have to Say You Love Me.Balloons 2008  Telephone Line (Trilogy) Fair Game, Estudiotres, Chicago, 2008  (Cardboard, plastic tubings, CD player, audio) As
a study on the emasculating power of telephones, I made three
telephones - two payphones and one desk phone, and embedded in each one
is their own sound recordings. The first one consists of the Scorpio
killer taunting Harry Callahan in Dirty Harry. The second one is taken
out of the threatening phone calls made by the terrorists from Die Hard
With a Vengeance. The desk phone contains a musical message from a sad
ELO cover man. Audio component (MP3): Telephone Line.Movie Karaoke Do Not Disconnect, Gallery 2 and Project Space, Chicago, 2007    Movie
Karaoke, a collaboration with Julie Boyer is an interactive inhabitable
installation which allows the viewer to participate in reenacting
dramtic film moments. Do Not Disconnect Audio Tour Do Not Disconnect, Gallery 2 and Project Space, Chicago, 2007 For the Do Not Disconnect exhibition at Gallery 2, I interviewed all the artist in and provided a free self-guided tour for the show. The interviews are casual in nature and provide personal perspective into the artists' creative processes. Audio component (MP3): Alee Peoples, Chris Lin/Julie Boyer, Kim Jackson, Rachel Moore/James Knittle Payphones Chicago, 2006 - 07    Guerilla
public installation. 24 green payphones were installed throughout
Chicago's west side. Payphones are an investigation on the iconic
quality of the payphones,
which is now an outdated symbol, almost like an endangered animal. Puppet City Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, FL, 2005   (Public intervention) In
2005, I travelled to Florida to host a Cardboard Buddies workshop.
There, I invited local residents to come in for a portrait sitting.
Over 4 hours we would chat about their lives, Florida, and recycling.
When the workshop is over, all of the participants reunited at a final
get-together. Firearms 50/50 Art Collective, Victoria, BC, 2005  In
the 2-person show Firearms, Stephen Strutynski and I each created
multiples using cardboard. I built 50 life-sized guns, and he made 50
giant Bic lighters. Cardboard Buddies Victoria, BC, 2005   To fend off loneliness, I built a clone of myself using cardboard. Grandma Cookie 2681 Eastdowne, Victoria, BC, 2005  To remember our grandmothers, Stephen Strutynski, Kristina West, Amy Cheng and I baked this life-sized gingerbread cookie. We worked on it all day, and in the evening, we transported it to Amy's house and ate it. |