Jason Sloan lecture

I was really impressed with Jason Sloan's lecture and overall works. This was the first lecture I've been to hearing the inside scoop on combining digital sounds with their work to recreate the space. He worked in many mixed digital media such as using sounds, installations, performance, sculpture, and video together as art. He explained the process of how he went to school as a painter and jumped right into performance. He entered into using video to experiment getting his work out there to others who are limited not to get a more sensual experience of his works than just photos. One of his earliest videos was him wrapping a roll of tape around his face continually until it was covered. My favorite part of his work was his minimalist music that he created. In fact may other fans began to know him more for his music than for his art, which is why he stopped. "I am an artist not a musician," he said. He examines the need for transcendence beyond the body through a vehicle of visual ritual and sonic stimulation. He later combined his own music and installations and other effect (fogs and lighting) to completely recreate the space he was using. This was something I was really blown away with, the last exhibit he showed I felt he pulled off very successfully. Most of his performances are routine motions, like continually placing and replacing objects in separate piles. A lot of his performances went on for many many hours, a few more than 12 hours. He mentioned that one simply knows when the performance has ended. The focus of his work is to take a non-dogmatic approach of artistic and intellectual inquiry that explores the basic human need for some type of spiritual alignment or wholeness.