Proteus Blog

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

DUSTIN PARKER + GREG TURNER = SUICIDE PIE

Tangent Lab, 143 N. Rock island, Farm and Art Market Square, Rock Island Market Building, 3rd Floor
Exhibition: SUICIDE PIE
Featured Artists: Dustin Parker + Greg Turner
Reception Date: Final Friday, October 30, 7:00 - Midnight
LIVE MUSIC BY: Standing In The Colour and Nosmo King
For more info visit: www.tangentlab.com

SUICIDE NOTE FROM DUSTIN PARKER

At one point I had scheduled a solo exhibition at Tangent Lab but decided to take a detour and invite Turner to join the mayhem. I've always been a huge admirer of Turner's work and our past collaborations have always been both creatively stimulating and endlessly entertaining so it seemed natural to team up again for a two man art show extravaganza.

After throwing around a slew of nonsensical title ideas including Under The Boogeyman's Bed, Satan's Dick, Burnt Weenie Sandwich, and Fried Baloney Pie we finally settled on SUICIDE PIE.

We concocted a SUICIDE PIE for our promotional photographs with Katie Sykes using a whole chicken, razor blades, hot pink silly string, plastic insects, a can of dog food, cigarette butts, red paint, broken glass and a few other secret ingredients. The photo depicts Turner and myself being held captive in the basement of a sadistic kidnapper's house, and the suicide pie is our only source of nourishment. We are bound with chains and duct tape and the suicide pie is just beyond our reach. We are starving and possibly delusional and that pile of death in a pie tin is starting to look really delicious. It was a really fun experience and Katie's genius really shines in the end product.

The work I'm doing for SUICIDE PIE is a medley of different mediums and styles and formats. I want the freedom to be random and create art without worrying about how it fits together as a cohesive body of work. I'm focusing on each piece individually and I'm not concerning myself with how it fits in the bigger picture. I think my work in SUICIDE PIE will show the full range of my creative experience. I really want to throw a little bit of everything into the pot and see what happens. I'm not saying it is the best work I've done, but it will probably be the most varied body of work I have presented.

-Dustin Parker