Everyman

Artworks featuring Everyman are great because the audience can easily inhabit the character, there isn't any deification of the character, and many of the real heroes have been Everyman personalities. Examples of Everyman Presidents have been Harry Truman and Gerald Ford. It would be difficult to find anyone who would argue against their ordinariness or their innate human decency. Everyman rocks. And I am going to use him, and her, as subjects for my own manufactured goods.

Artist's Statement

The following in a necessary evil to all artists. Please bear with me. Bare with me later.

We exist!

That is my foundation. It is based on Descartes writing, "Cogito ergo sum." Translated; "I think, therefore I am." The adjustment I make, "We exist," is meant to ward off narcissism. Some would like to argue with the reality of the statement. I have no time for them.

We exist. We are human. We have needs. Fundamental Human Needs (see the Wikipedia entry) of;
subsistence,
protection,
affection,
understanding,
participation,
leisure,
creation,
identity and
freedom.

The Fundamental Human Needs are pervasive and we satisfy those needs by any means available.

Morality.

Morality is innate to any human who has a conscience. Although it might be suppressed by a harsh environment, it is still--in most cases--present. Those who are born without a conscience ignore morality or use it to gain an advantage over those who feel guilt.

I feel guilt.

So I am cursed with a conscience and I feel compelled to follow certain rules within society even though they may be detrimental to the fulfillment of my needs.

Art, to this point, has been mainly concerned with the struggle between good and evil. Modernity will not happen until we become aware of the non-struggle between those who feel guilt, and those who do not.

All I can do is call attention to the observation and wait, perhaps forever, to see how society reorders itself once this axiom is digested.

In the meantime, I will make plastic art that examines the Fundamental Human Needs.

That wasn't too painful, was it? You have to admire a philosophy that is based on Wikipedia articles and draws no conclusion, don't you? Now I am going to stay as busy as I can and hope that I am not consumed by a sociopath picking off a weakened target on the periphery of the herd. Have a good day!

You're Making What?

Art making. We never say the second word, but that is what we do. We make art. We manufacture art. I imagine that art making began as soon as we began to make tools. It has always been with us, and it will always be with us. Just do not forget the making part of the proposition. Most days I am looking to manufacture something. It might take me eight or ten hours to manufacture a glance. Yes. I am a performance piece.