THE ARTIST IN YOU

What is your responsibility as a denizen of the

art world? Do you belong here? Are you here to
administer context or engage in aesthetic
appreciation?

THE ARTIST IN YOU

From violent outbursts of reactionary vitriol to

subtle existential revelations, THE ARTIST IN
YOU presents a personal response to the complexities of involvement in the field of fine art.

Tim Biskup
Tim Biskup

Baby Tattoo Books

Jonathan Levine Gallery

New York, New York
May 17 - June 14, 2008

From violent outbursts of reactionary vitriol to

subtle existential revelations, THE ARTIST IN
YOU presents a personal response to the complexities of involvement in the field of fine art.

THE ARTIST IN YOU

What is your responsibility as a denizen of the art

world? Do you belong here? Are you here to
administer context or engage in aesthetic appreciation?

THE ARTIST IN YOU

Tim Biskup

Tim Biskup

Ether Destroyed
Cel Vinyl Acrylic & Spray Paint on
Steel, Foam & Plastic
60 x 60 x 60

The Artist In You

Introduction
This project was intended as a personal reaction to and
an analysis of separations within the fine art community.
All systems fail, eventually. My failure is embedded with
regret and success. Diamond studded coal spinning
through space. Maybe it is time to approach the emperor
rather than hurl stones at the gates. He's still a naked
bastard, but I respect his wit and charm and power.
Finding that we agree more than we disagree is a
luminous and treacherous shock. What began as institutional critique has become a love letter. My heart laid bare.

I am not at all comfortable with what I have written in this

book. It is full of messy emotions, fragmented theories
and angry proclamations. Writing about my experiences
as an artist has been extremely difficult. Much of my
frustration has come from what I perceived as resistance
from an entrenched, elitist art world. My attempts to
understand the complexities of the established art world
have led, not to any all-encompassing truth, but to a
series of paradoxical dead ends. I find that my preconceived ideas were at once generally accurate and way-off
base. For every problem that I pointed out there seemed
to be a solution that was already in place. It is my choice
to see the problem or the solution. My focus changed
from an analysis of a flawed system to a revelation about
my own resistance, elitism and anger.

The Artist In You

The writings that I am including here are, in many cases

quite harsh and may prove to be very offensive to some
readers. The vitriol can be directly literal and at other times
quite sarcastic and even comical. It is not my intent that
these passages be taken as conclusions or accounts of
my true motivations, but rather as a venting of my preconceptions and raw emotional reactions. It is a view into my
thought process with all of its scattered and surreal tissue
left intact. My hope is that it will resonate with others and
invite discourse on these issues.
There is no end to this kind of discussion. Thank you for
meeting me in the middle.

"Maybe the art world is an art unto itself, perhaps

the only one left... We are all artists on this account."
- Sylvre Lotringer
(from "The Piracy of Art", 2005)

The Artist In You

v 1.0
by Tim Biskup

The Artist in You

All images Tim Biskup
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced
or transmitted in any form or by any means, including
photocopying, recording, or by any information retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Baby Tattoo Books, Los Angeles
Babytattoo.com
This edition limited to 1,000 copies.
Manufactured in China
www.timbiskup.com

Baby Tattoo Books

The Artist In You

What is art?
I hate that question, but it seems like a good place to start.
There is a school of thought that tells us that everything that is
made with the intention of being art is art. I'm fine with that.
You can call your amazing macaroni and cheese art if you
want. I'm not going to argue with you. I am more interested in
how this kind of discussion effects people.
The reason that I hate that question is that it is a distraction
from the simple joy of looking at and making art. It is the
doorway into a paradoxical web of theories that create a fog
of context that floats between art and audience. In many cases
it lends the control of perception to those that seek to frame
artwork in conceptual terms rather than let an artist's creation
speak for itself. The question is at the root of the attempt to
invalidate the "gut reaction" of the viewer to a work of art.
I also love that question and for the very same reasons
(speaking of paradox...). Discourse on the nature of art works
like a Buddhist riddle designed to destroy reality, only artspeak and ornate critical theories destroy art with the
paradoxes they create. The dismantling of reality leads to
transcendence and enlightenment. The deconstruction of art
as an object brings us freedom from context if we are willing to
stay onboard for the duration of the ride.

Perhaps art is dead. If so, the afterlife is heaven and hell and
Louis Vuitton. I feel like a ghost passing through the walls and
looking for a way out.
This is where I find myself focusing my attention; Varied
emotional responses to the complexity of involvement in the
art world. It is seemingly possible for some to simply reject the
debates and divisions in lieu of pure appreciation or creation
of art. In other cases, the act of challenging perceptions,
questioning theories and contemplating the boundaries of
artistic expression seems to be satisfying in itself. It is my
belief, though that in most of our minds there is a constant
balancing act between appreciating pure aesthetic and
reacting to context. That balance can add to the experience
or it can be distracting. More and more, in my case, it is
distracting.

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The Artist In You

At the root of this project is an attempt to engage the part

of myself that has been thinking beyond color theories,
composition, design, ETC. and create an exhibition that will
put the conceptual side of my work forward in both
concrete and abstract formats. Theoretical content has
always been present in my work to varying degrees and at
some point I hope to put together a written counterpart to
each of my past exhibitions and projects to try to reveal the
conceptual underpinnings that lay beneath the surface.
The fact that I have never included written explanations of
my work in the past is testament to my desire for my art to
speak for itself. I have reached a point, though, where I feel
a need to put my work in context. Looking back on a few
projects in particular I see that an artist's statement would
have added a great deal to the experience on my part and
on that of the audience.
It was clear when I decided to attempt this current exhibition that there would need to be written accompaniment. I
wanted to come at the project from a completely different
angle than what I am used to. I theorized and discussed
the ideas with countless friends and acquaintances. I made
lists of possible installations and concepts.

I dedicated endless hours to reading about art history,

theory and critique. In the past I have set upon the work for
a show by shutting myself in my studio, sketching, painting
and sculpting furiously for months while the concept
developed out of the visual expressions. The title of any
given show (i.e.: Alphabeast, The Push-Over, Vapor, The
Phantom Thread...) was only a verbal point of departure,
deliberately vague and provocative so there was flexibility
in what could be included and connected. The title, "The
Artist In You" is intentionally unpoetic and bland and
therefore compels me to explain my intentions. It also,
hopefully, will compel the audience to seek an explanation.
Writing about art is a precarious undertaking. It has been
done to death and with greater literary and scholarly
prowess than I will ever muster. In order to overcome my
trepidation I began to write in an abstract format that
resembles poetry more than literal discourse. It allowed me
to express what I was feeling without actually committing
to a specific ideology. I had considered including only
these ethereal and metaphorical writings in this book, but
as my ideas became more concrete it seemed like a bit of
a cop-out to leave them vague.

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The Artist In You

Accordingly, the text bounces around stylistically, mixing

abstract and concrete thoughts that play off of the images to
hopefully encapsulate the overall experience of this project.
The thought had occurred to me to approach this exhibition from an entirely literary angle. To present an entire
show of printed text would be compelling and provocative,
but ultimately would avoid the kind of interplay between the
two sides of my work that I am looking for. It was very
difficult to imagine what sort of visual counterpart would
coincide with what I was saying in words and, though they
remain inherently disconnected from one another, I feel that
I have stayed on course. Many of the ideas that I had for
the visual content involved gimmicks and visual puns
(ornate, hand painted "SOLD" signs that would replace red
dots and be included with a purchase, for instance.) that,
while I think they would have been effective, would have
taken away from the more subtle points that I am trying to
make. There are many hints to those points that remain,
including the duality of the covers to this book. The dust
jacket is deliberately plain and is intended to imply conceptual profundity by it's lack of visual distractions and
sentiment, while the underlying hard cover is colorful and
inviting. The idea is intended to suggest the interactions
and divisions within my work and within the art world itself.
We have options.

I had feared the possibility that I would become so

engrossed in theories that it would distract me from enjoying the simple act of painting, but the opposite has been
the case. Studying, analyzing and venting these thoughts
has led me to revel in the purity of making art as a meditative practice. It's as if I have purged the distraction of
context by compartmentalizing it and giving it a place to
thrive. Questions like "What is art?" no longer bring up
anger. They have their place and it is a playground. The
resulting visual art is some of the most personally satisfying
and complex work that I have ever created. It is clear to me
that by embracing my theoretical conflicts and using my
reactions as motivation I have pushed myself forward on
many different levels.

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The Artist In You

You Can Do It!

I believe in you and the power of your creative expression.
It is in you like gold in a mountain! It's easy. People will love
you because you are such a loving person. You can relax
because there is nothing more powerful than what you do.
You are the best & we all know it. The artist in you is ready
to come out! People love artists and they love to see into
artist's lives. That means that you will have the envy of your
friends and acquaintances. You can have no doubts. You
can have your own life and it will lead you towards the
things that you want. Nothing can stop you. You are a
monster. You are full of power and hate. Your mind is
devouring the planet and converting it into beauty. Don't
be afraid. The answers are clear and controllable. Change
the future to fit your desires. If you want love you will have
it in the most pure and aggressive form. It will be in your
artworks like fire. Your blood will flow with passion. The
ringing in your ears is like the hot breath of a raging beast.
Take it out on the ones that you love. Abuse your power.
Conform to your environment while you manipulate the
weak. Soon enough you will be in control.

Release your worst feelings on the gallery walls. Get

drunk. Test your wit against those that dominate and
challenge you. You will beat them. Be sensitive to your
inner child. Honor and respect your own weakness.
Respect the illusions that you maintain. You have it all in
you already. You only need to move forward into the future
and use your claws to scratch the eyes out of your victims.
Tear them down. Win at all cost. Follow your dreams! You
can do it!
"You Can Do It!" was a point of departure for this project. It set a tone
with its sarcasm and duplicity that continues through much of the text.
It exemplifies the feelings of confusion and frustration that I have felt
when dealing with the business of art. It also brings up issues of how
artists are perceived by society, the corrupting influences of fame,
monetary success, freedom, Etc. and the difficulty of maintaining
creative inspiration. It was written as part fictional rejection letter, part
inspirational speech and sent to several of my artist friends without
explanation. The response was almost always the same: "What is this?
I love it.". They all understood what it was about. It represented the
conflict that goes on in the mind of artists, especially with regards to the
kind of contradictory and audacious suggestions that emanate from so
many of those that dwell in the art world. At once supportive, encouraging, humiliating and devious, it sets the artist adrift in a sea of duplicitous
opinion. It seems that we are very open to suggestions about the way
we should think about our work and ourselves, but finding a balance
between selling ourselves and selling-out can be very difficult.

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The Artist In You

Proposal
My fountain will piss blood on the passers by.
My painting will sock you in the jaw, pick your pocket,
fuck your wife, inhale the world and burn the fields.
I insist that this will come true.
I intend to lie and cheat.
Cavorting and brutal without boundaries.
We are going to swing from the curtains, drink dry the
wine and whiskey.
When we are hung over and hungry we'll bang on the
windows from both sides.
In, out, high, low

Just What You Needed

Cel Vinyl Acrylic on Panel
24 x 18

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The Artist In You

Love Letter
I think I am in love, but perhaps what I have now is a
hard-on for drama, money and aesthetic pleasure.
Educating myself into a new appreciation of my present
muse means confronting the anger that I have about my
relationship to that world. For so long I have seen it as a
monolithic and opaque wall. I hear about the artistic
privilege, outrageous prices, spectacular extravagances
and deep appreciation from an audience that loves its
babies as if they were carried in its own womb. My
response reeks of the kind of jealousy that I felt in junior
high school looking at the shiny lips of that cheerleader
chewing on a fingernail while she connected her name
carelessly and repeatedly to the last name of the fuckhead that called me fag in the locker room. I wanted her
and I wanted him to see me get her. Those feelings of
rejection, fear and anger are powerful because they are
driven by obsession and base desires. Being a victim
invites the most insideous strain of elitism. I can hate you
and feel justified as long as I can convince myself that you
hate me more or that you started it. As much as I try to
intellectualize my feelings, I must face the fact that I am
dealing with the same basic emotions that we all have.

So, where do I go from there? The desire to destroy is

easily defended and clearly culturally significant, especially
in these post-punk years where every hateful swipe to the
face of the opressor is co-opted and sold on the open
market. Approaching an institutional system without a rock in
my hand just feels wrong. If I stop complaining what will I say?
Dearest,
I am compelled to tell you all that I am feeling, but I fear
that I will not be able to find the words. I waiver in your
presence from the rush of vile nerves brushed against your
cold skin. The apparition of tenderness tucked into my
chest is silently piercing you. Faint tonal varieties pulse
through your fabric and liquid fields. An opiate or pheromone graces me with charismatic power. We are inside.
Flexible objects that intersect dragging particles into one
another. Dismissed over an hour of dusted redemption.
The sea parted. Burning arrows and sick pillows of white
acid clobbering you and I together. We will never be the
same. We will never get what we want, but we will be one.
With love,
Tim

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21

"Art achieves a purpose which is not its own."

- Benjamin Constant

Doom Loop #6
Cel Vinyl Acrylic on Panel
24 x 18

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The Artist In You

Calculation
We are charged with honors to carry out.
It is not our place to question, but to perfect the conduit
by which we translate.
Painful changes in faith and complexity are thrown into
and through without pause, reflection or explanation.
Because it is accepted that the artist is an aggressive
and romantic beast there is a wide berth given.
What if it is not given?
What if it is suggested that the artist in you has obligations?
There is a simulation performed out of care and longing.
It is broken apart and swallowed in pieces.
When it is gone you should be full.
What if you are not?
What if you can't get it down?
You are taking a break from what you love because you
just can't get along.
You will see it on the street and say an awkward "hello".
I miss you dearly.
You have been made redundant.
This position has been filled.

Professional care taken out of context and removed from

the values of direct contact.
Fade away and don't come back.

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25

The Artist In You

Evolution

"Those who do not understand it or who have not

realized that there is nothing to understand... really
got it since their very bewilderment betrays an
intuitive intelligence."
- Jean Baudrillard
(from The Conspiracy Of Art, 1996)

I want my job back. You took apart the balance of the

universe and built a model that provides solutions. You
created your future and security on wire stretched through
space. Representative of the new model. It is a symbol
that burns context into the earth and stabs at the core of
professionalism.

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The Artist In You

The Art of Destroying Art

Art folded in upon itself through a constant process of
examination, re-examination, re-contextualization and
deconstruction. The discussion becomes irrelevant as
does the art itself. After the destruction of the object, the
invalidation of sentiment and the passing of art into a post
conceptual anti-world what is there to argue about? It is
hard to refute the death of art. I'm sad to see it go. I could
claim that I believe that art will be re-born, but I am not up
to the task of making that argument. If it comes back let
me know. In the meantime, I will be in my studio making
luxury items.

"I am nothing and I can function"

- Andy Warhol

28

The Artist In You

History
I can recall only what I have come to understand.
Bury the hatchet under white pine.
Eagles nest perched on the bow.
Breaking sea and animal blood.
Oak barrel filled and rotting with dirty nutrients.
That past seeps into the present quietly.
Harmony of color, space, triumph, delusion, calculation,
dreams and long sick sketches sucked out at the worst
possible time.
Mosquito passing into me and I don't have space for it.
Tiny bird-filled sky destroyed by controlling beasts and
the simple loss of well known quantities.
I could not make enough to keep the troops fed so they
passed away.
Scrambled words selling mystery to boiling vats of
energy.
The little truth that perishes under the microscope only to
re-claim its goal and remind travelers of transportation and
the brutality of wandering away from comfort.
You are a part of the new position.

After the crash and terror is a pale wet path that is

featureless and simple.
I try nothing and take nothing.
Undergrown.
Compound architecture revealing its construction.

Find comfort in the discomfort of those around you.

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The Artist In You

Smash The State!

Burn the flag.
Tear apart all of the bullshit derisive strategies and
systems.
Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.
Kill the executives and administrators.
There's a party going on.
The destruction of invalid expressions frees us from toxic
protocol.

The Nirvana Paradigm

"Smells Like Teen Spirit" invalidated theatrical pretense.
To the "Woo, yeah, baby!" of popular music we replied,
"Fuck You!". It was not necessarily directed anywhere in
particular and there was rarely any hope, or even desire,
that our screams would be heard by the general public.
When it broke the code everything changed. The new art
outsiders believe that technical ability and visual stimulation are the keys to good art. Conceptual content and art
theory in general are unimportant and, to some,
completely irrelevant. Art-speak equates with the manufactured emotions of the most benign pop-rock ballad.
Lowbrow is punk rock. Raw, reckless and terrible. Immature and ugly brats thrashing three-chord noise that threatens to make sense. It is a powder keg and the fuse is lit.
Sparks ignite the curtains and eyebrows are raised. Is that
all there is? What happens at the end of the fuse? The form
produces a mature variation that invalidates all insincere
expression, genres crash and bleed to death on the way to
the hospital. Established systems ingest, refine and validate
the legitimate and the charlatans as equal products.

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The Artist In You

Sour Grapes For Rotting Vegetables

Delusional elitism masquerading as a divinely inspired
secret society leaps from the stage and falls past weak
arms to bloody it's nose and flee to the bathroom for toilet
paper. Bang or whimper? Look what happened to popular
music after 1991. Business as usual, right? Time will tell.

Fuck you art intelligencia. Weak fuckers. You can all get
in circle and talk about how art is dead and in need of recontextualization, but it is your art that is dead. Your fake
meaning and questions have spirale d into a post-art
wasteland. Your need to control the situation and fear of
risk and truth is what got you here. You must continue with
your high art jack off if you want to maintain your
relevance. It is only in the flimsy context that you and the
other pathetic vampires have put forward as important
that you retain a shred of meaning. Faced with time tested
professional artistic ability and deep conscious personal
truth you will wither and die. Put me in context and I will
stomp your fucking head into pulp. Your greed has
created a blood sucking, soul shattering beast that is
growing full and sick and purple with the blood of the
weak and brilliant. You can't be like us and you don't want
to do what it takes to get to that point because you are so
full of pain, evil, denial, mountains of bullshit, miles of rocky
path and insurmountable passages. When the brave
return they are battered and strong. If you control them,
then who will doubt your power?

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The Artist In You

Crisis
They may be strong, but your shame is stronger. Hear this:
there is no elephant in the room. It is far worse. There is a
crippled and shaking old theorist taking their last breath.
We are coming. We are here.

Art exists as an object! Painting has been re-discovered!

New capitol arrives in train cars. Red flags pop from every
orifice. Corruption spills over like a barrel of napalm. Run
like hell. Bandits crash the gate and set up shop sifting
through inventories and sorting without control. Broken
hinges peel away like bullets and the split bodies of angels
crash to the floor. Blood-splattered wide and far through
the windows casting red upon the walls and surrounding
every poisoned, sleeping moment.

36

The Artist In You

"There is no way out for an art squeezed between

administration and populism."
- Stian Grgaard
from "The Faltering Business of Aesthetic
Administration", 2007

At the heart of my questioning the state of the art establishment is that there seems to be a disconnect between
what is deemed "important" by those that study art from a
theoretical point of view and what is considered "good" by
the general public. It would not be an issue if so much
institutional control was not in the hands of intellectuals. It
is my opinion that the rejection of "popularity" as a relevant
factor in weighing the importance of an artist's work is due
to discomfort with the release of control by the intellectual
art community. There is, undeniably, much at stake. I am
not suggesting that the pendulum should swing the other
way entirely. I am interested in the possibility of what can
be achieved if there were a loosening of aesthetic administration to make the talented outsiders feel welcome.

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The Artist In You

"The fact is that there is no way to avoid the (art) market:

It absorbs subversion and packages dissent, selling us an
image of ourselves as conscientious objectors even when
we are deeply entrenched in its system"
- Nancy Spector, from "The Color Of Money", Jan/Feb
2007 issue of Frieze Magazine

Follow Me
Cel Vinyl Acrylic on Canvas
78 x 78
Following pages
Follow Me (Detail)

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The Artist In You

Buyer Beware
Welcome dislocation and wealth into your life.
Become an aware and brilliant mate.
Come hither.
Follow me.
My wet past, full of fire and mistakes, invites you.
Penetrate and I'll do the same to you.
Revolve to the bottom where it began and rests, firmfooted.
There is something wrong there that makes the whole
construction stable.
You have your best chance right now.
Will you regret not buying this?
Will you wake up to it every day?
Smiling or swearing... it is yours.
Why did you sit still when you should have acted?
You piece of shit.
You fucked us both!
We could have ridden a wave of complexity, virtue, pride,
skill and wit into an age of culturally enlightened glory, but
you got cold feet.
You fucking pussy.
Take my hand right now and lets jump out the window.

Fuck it.
I'm serious.
Why not?
If you are not going to live your life the way that you really
want to we may as well both be dead.

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The Artist In You

The Asylum Series

In the midst of creating the darkest and most intense
body of work in my career ("Vapor" from 2006 & "Ether"
from 2007) I painted a peaceful, passive, secure and
stationary woman with a teal coif embedded with flowers.
It was a shock to everyone that saw it among my other
paintings. The response was overwhelmingly positive. It
was a resting place among confrontational images. It was,
by definition, asylum. I knew that if I included it in one of
these exhibitions it would pull the viewer out of the place
where I wanted them to go. It invited the viewer in and let
them relax. This presented me with a paradox. For the first
time in my career I was placing conceptual content ahead
of the aesthetic content. Is that a sign of maturing as an
artist or is it a sign of corruption?
The desire to ignore this painting was chilling. It felt like I
was turning my back on the part of me that could enjoy
making a pretty picture. At one point I considered literally
hiding it by including it in a show, but draping it in black
cloth, a reference to the long dead practice of morning a
recently deceased artist by covering their work to remind
the viewer of the loss.

Asylum
Cel Vinyl Acrylic on Panel
24 x 36

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The Artist In You

The process of recreating the image over and over

allowed me to look at my reasons for painting. It was a
way for me to analyze my sense of responsibility as an
artist, both to myself and to the audience. Some of the
variations are only slightly removed in concept from the
original. They feel more like visual experiments than
conceptual challenges. The final version of the painting
(#6) was a dramatic departure. It boasts the words, "YOU
COMPLETE ME." across the center of a flatly painted
silhouette. It is as if the painting is begging to be made
beautiful. It can also be taken as my message to the
viewer that their participation in the process of my art is
appreciated or as a command that the viewer participate
in that process. It's ironic that, of the six paintings, the one
that contains the highest level of intentional meaning feels,
to me at least, cold and unappealing.

Asylum #2
Cel Vinyl Acrylic on Panel
24 x 36

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The Artist In You

Asylum #3
Cel Vinyl Acrylic on Panel
24 x 36

Asylum #4
Cel Vinyl Acrylic on Panel
24 x 36

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The Artist In You

Asylum #5
Cel Vinyl Acrylic on Panel
24 x 36

Asylum #6
Cel Vinyl Acrylic on Panel
24 x 36

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The Artist In You

Alien
Who the fuck are you and why are you trying to send me
out for food.
I revised the classic form and you were not a part of it.
You are a lazy partition, an unavoidable consequence of
material creation.
Break out the bubbly and toast the frame that holds it all
together.
My guess is that you are shitting yourself trying to hold
onto what you have based your life on.
It is not that I want you to feel pain.
It is that I want my job back.
I am the harbor that holds out the sea.
Crap freedom and intoxicating politics are kicked swiftly
in the balls.
bubbles of paste and stain.
Wax, shape, oil and eyes mistaken for luxury are keeping
the wolves in the woods and not at your door.
Count your lucky stars, alien.
You are not at home.

Requirements
Where are you going to put the windows?
I need to see something that will inspire me.
I want to be out there, but I can't be.
I have to stay in here.
There's been a major shift in the way that I think.
I can't pass these paintings without taking them with me.
I broke in and stole them off the wall.
I hated what they were doing to me and my friends.
They cheated.
Please, don't walk away from me while I am talking.
I need to hear what you are thinking about me.
Can you avoid telling me anything that is fucking stupid,
though?
Take me with you.
I'd rather be in your pocket and pissed off at the way you
walk.
Don't hesitate if you want to come through for me.
I wish you were here and I could talk to you about what I
am seeing.
It is perfect and it resonates with discipline.
Keep it in the front of your mind while I am walking
around.

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The Artist In You

Remember what I said to you about what I am thinking.

It will come in handy.
You are employed by a missing sense of natural purity.
Icons float above you to remind me.
Take your torture and ambiguity.
You came here to see what I can do and I like that
about you.
I like your glasses and the shirt that you are wearing.
You seem to be evolving into quite a little wizard.
When you are done reading this you should roll it up, set
it on fire and run down the street screaming.
In fact, memorize it and scream it out word-for-word.
That will make my point very clearly.
People would love that.
Pick the part that does nothing for you because I want
you to own it.
I want you to control the situation.
I want you to raise a stink and push back a million years.
You hate what I did.
It's an embarrassment.
You could have done more with less energy.
I can't stand the way that I feel about you.

Doom Loop #4
Cel Vinyl Acrylic on Panel
24 x 36

55

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The Artist In You

Doom Loops
Complain, contrast, debate, invent, reduce, calculate
and feel the envy that will bury me.
I am not careful or restrained.
I am wicked for what I am doing, but mostly I feel foolish.
I am unwanted, shy and rude.
You complete me with recognition or abuse.
I want something that will prove that I exist.
A file full of a million wasted minutes streaking across the
street and into a doorway.
Micro-managed doom loops.
A passive resistance to any kind of behavior correction.
Modification of deliberate complexity establishes confusion based appreciation or true idealized nutritional wit.
Fuck with it all the time.
Play with it like it is a toy.
Try it out on your friends.
Prove to yourself that it can be meaningful and heartfelt
even though it is a joke and a stupid game.
It is serious when you remember that it is not.
When I am working it is not working.
Personal effect lost.

Doom Loop
Cel Vinyl Acrylic on Panel
78 x 78

57

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The Artist In You

61

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The Artist In You

My deepest thanks go out to all those that helped in

the process of creating this book and exhibition.
Notably; Kristen Schiele, who encouraged me to take
on these subjects from the very beginning and
provided the benefit of her insight and knowledge.
Denise Gray, for her heartfelt and honest recommendations and suggestions. Bob Self, one of the most
inspiring publishers I know. Jonathan Levine, for his
enthusiasm and trust for so many years. Jamie
O'Shea, because he pushed me in the right direction
at the right time. Dr. Gary Felton, for his wisdom.
Thanks to all of those that discussed these issues
with me and, therefore contributed to the process:
JJ Abrams
Annie Adjchavanich
Josh Agle
Gary Baseman
Glenn Barr
Brian Bell
Jud Bergeron
Mary & Stephan Biskup
Mike Biskup
Stefan Henry-Biskup
Andrew Brandou
Baixo & Alice (Choque Cultural)
David Choe
Richard Coleman
Paul Cruikshank
Cheryl Dunn
Chris Edmundson

Natalia Fabia
Amanda Fairey
Shepard Fairey
Korin Faught
Dan Field
Eric Foss
Sam & Tury (Friends With You)
Gary Garay
Camille Rose Carcia
Alex Gross
Liz Hamilton
Naomi Harris
Jaime Hayon
Seonna Hong
James Jean
Long Gone John
Nathan Jurevicius
KAWS
Sean Kelly
Simone Legno
Nichole Lindsay
Greg Long
Jeff Mann
James Marshall
Carlo McCormick
Tara McPherson
Iigo Martinez Moller
Kathy Murphy
Holly Myers
Jolene Myers
Jay Nailor

Eric Nakamura
Kyle Ng
Martin Ontiveros
Marion Peck
David Peskovitz
Chad Phillips
Peter & Lars (Pictoplasma)
Ragnar
Darren Romanelli
Rob Reger
Mark Ryden
Souther Salazar
Todd Schorr
Kathy Staico-Schorr
Eric Schrody
Billy Shire
Alix Sloan
John Solomon
Joe Sorren
Bwana Spoons
Louisa St. Pierre
Teddy Tennenbaum
Miles Thompson
Mark Todd
Kirsten Ulve
Esther Pearl Watson
Eric White
Jessica Whiteside
Ashley Wood
Bill Wray

I'm sure I've forgotten someone. I'm sorry.