07/05/19, 19Uhr

Werkvortrag

Mike Bouchet, Künstler, Frankfurt
Born in 1970, Castro Valley, California, USA
1991-1999 lives and works in Los Angeles
2000-2004 lives and works in New York City
2005-present lives and works in Frankfurt, Germany

Mike Bouchet is an artist without a defined practice. His studio is fertile ground for performances, sculptures, paintings and dedicated projects whether it be a commune, a travel agency, red bull flavoured gelatin, an artisanal shit-sheetrock factory, tire manufacturing, designing jeans, custom jacuzzis, or producing his own diet cola.

He culls material from the surface of the everyday. His interests lie exactly where culture’s do; these interests, no matter how varied, often claim exactly equal cultural value. He presents this egalitarian system back to society by way of juxtaposition, combination and reaction.

Artist Statement
I am generally interested in the same things most people are interested in: movies, food, architecture, jeans, art, sex and advertisements. I play with components of these topics by way of juxtaposition, combination and experimentation. I try to investigate and understand any deeper ulterior motives and vocabulary behind my topical interests.

Culling material from the surface of the everyday, I undertake projects that tend to result in formal objects like sculpture, video, painting, drawings, photographs, documents or in actions. The ability of an artist to make work in traditional production/distibution/consumption circles is interesting, and I often conceive of work in this arena.

Simultaneously, I investigate social contents and consider the formal and aesthetic implications in my artwork. Sometimes the composition of these objects overrides their conceptual value. Sometimes the space between the artwork and the viewers – the passage by which the object is consumed – becomes an autonomous element unto itself.

Ort
Hörsaal der Kunsthochschule Mainz
Am Taubertsberg 6
55122 Mainz

Bildnachweis
Veranstaltungsprogramm Sommersemester #19, Grafik, 2019 © Kunsthochschule Mainz