Semiopticon opens in black and white splendor
So it's not quite the Sistine Chapel but it is one hell of an eye-opening, religious experience, that is of course if your God is Alfred E. Neuman of Mad Magazine, whose large head presides over the room filled with many other recognizable characters.
Semiopticon opens in black and white splendor
So it's not quite the Sistine Chapel but it is one hell of an eye-opening, religious experience, that is of course if your God is Alfred E. Neuman of Mad Magazine, whose large head presides over the room filled with many other recognizable characters. Entering into the space of black and white donned walls, images are fused together in a seemingly nonsensical order. The combination of present day pop-culture symbols and iconic imagery is a journey for the eyes, mind and soul. Art enthusiasts and Drexel University locals filed into the Leonard Pearlstein Gallery yesterday evening in hopes of gaining some insight into artists Morgan Thomas and Thomas Buildmore's mindset for their Semiopticon: Exploring Semiotics, Sacred Ground & Street Art, installation.
It was a week-long process, Sunday-Sunday, of putting their semioptic ideas directly on the walls. No erasing, no back-tracking and definitely no saving. Morgan Thomas, 24, explains this as being completely freeing, “Part of the concept is black and white directly on the walls; it's going to be painted over eventually, it's not sellable artwork so there's no pressure, no price-tag.” This concept which the two have executed twice before allows for them to combine Buildmore's background in street art and graffiti with Thomas' “minimal fine-art training and free flow attitude.”
It's like a tripped-out children-meets-adult storybook where Snow White is being dragged into a bed of flames by tiny, cute, unsuspecting birds and three childhood favorites, Annie, Madeline and Dora (of Dora the Explora) are all preggers. Though many, like Julia Stone, a Drexel University grad student, were utterly confused by the juxtaposition of and meaning behind some of the images, not much of an explanation will ever be offered. Thomas and Buildmore inserted humor here and deep sociological concepts there in order to create a storyline that's individual and personal for each viewer.
Enjoy the mental ride as you take in the image of Hindu goddess Kali, a form of Shiva who frees you from karma, sporting a skirt of severed hands, a tattoo of an infused Alpha/ Omega sign, grasping a gun, dagger, skull in a few of her many hands. Also enjoy the vision and concept behind the work and more importantly the fun in pointing out as many characters you recognize and debating with others over why or not they fit. This installation will only exist through September 11 when the designed walls of the Pearlstein Gallery are painted over, forever erasing what was. Buildmore explains this juncture as his favorite part. He views the inevitable ending as a way of becoming one with the Pearlstien Gallery, forever embedded into its space.
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