My Final Artist Statment

The Artist Statement:
Dennis J. Quinn

$ -------- An artist's statement (or artist statement) is a brief text composed by an artist and intended to explain, justify, and contextualize his or her body of work.

!--------- Artist statements can be viewed as having a negative and/or detrimental effect on artworks and the art world. Where an artist uses text to explain their artwork it could be seen as an argument that the artwork itself is unable to convey those ideas.

For my first body of work “ The Creature Kit,” it requires a statement because the concept is overall obvious. I decided early in the semester to wrap my drum set with a new approach. I wanted to take a photo of something I loved, manipulate it, and then figure out a way to wrap it around my kit. I chose vinyl for its’ durability and preservation of image quality. This piece could be looked at as a ready-made, Anti-art or a product ready for mass production. This kit is geared towards the modern industrial world where making money is a must. I intend to pitch this idea to drum companies.
My second body of work, “Is it too late?” demonstrates my growing sense of Anti-art. Through learning the various avenues taken by artists and the history that brought us to where we are, I found that I am simply unsatisfied with creating anything that resembles another’s work. I am not saying that this work is completely original, but it is not traditional and I have never seen a piece like it. I am proud of the process and the concept behind the work. I feel is not necessary to define the concept because there are many ideas that I would accept as valid. You be the judge.
My last piece is a composition I call, “ A Pulsar Star Composition.” I am so fascinated by the pulsar star sounds, and space in general; that I had to make something of the files I got from my Astronomy teacher. I took the raw files and subtly manipulated the sounds and created something that for me is a mediation or stress relief mechanism. I then created an image to look at while listening to the composition. The image projects the mood and sensations of these crazy sounds. The image started as a picture of a star that I took looking through binoculars with a cheap digital camera. The light trail from the slow shutter speed created the starting point. From there, I tweaked the space within the canvas to my likings. This piece is semi John Cage inspired. My passion for the sounds and sight of deep space and mind travel will never cease.