Sunday, May 31, 2020

Art 340/540 New Media- Paul McCarthy

What contemporary artist relates most directly to this Simulations book we're reading?...maybe Paul McCarthy, a multi-media madman (not at all really) whose work many consider to be about the most primal level of human experience. Maybe it is intuition that takes him to these hyperreal worlds, or maybe that butter and hamburger-covered head is packed full of late 20th century theory? We shouldn't care, in art it may not matter.
'The Painter' is so hilarious that it's almost dangerous for me to watch...


But what are we watching here...exactly? It's clearly satire, but it's a super-intense artist playing the role of a super-intense artist of maybe one generation back, in a way that becomes self-satire, particularly in its unmasking of artistic focus. It's humorous, but not 'comedy', the character drifts from being a clownish actor to being Paul himself, mocking his own work (tube of shit, etc.) and humiliating himself. Drifting from hyperrealness to simulation to...maybe even some kind of elusive true real.

His most recent work has been in virtual reality...


Here's a PowerPoint...


https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oVNxUFzzuJXjQkR__EiGF-6PD8XVJhod/view?usp=sharing


YOU WILL NEED TO DOUBLE CLICK 2020mccarthy.pptx AND THEN SELECT THE CloudConvert APP TO OPEN THE FILE OR DOWNLOAD THE FOLDER TO YOUR HARD DRIVE.