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Artist Statement Big Fucking Thing Exhibit The “Big Fucking Thing” exhibit presents a convergence of three subjects prevailing from the artist’s life experience and observations;
The original influence was derived from Lewis Black, a comedian in the U.S. In his routine, he criticizes the Bush administration’s 2001 tax cut for upper income people designed to stimulate the economy using the trickle-down theory of economics utilized by the Reagan administration or widely known as Reaganomics. Widely perceived as a millionaire’s tax cut, Black volleys with the “Big Fucking Thing” plan, in which a big public works project is undertaken. The project employs local workers, and becomes the springboard for related businesses such as tourism, local businesses, etc. “As long as it is big, and it is a fucking thing” he says, in terms of the design of the project, and adds later “and THAT stimulates the economy.” The object-based world of an abstract painter, their art, and the communication thereof, of their intention of their work is often misunderstood and referenced. The viewing public often wants to associate objects in the paintings (things) with something they understand like a common-day object. While this is not the intention of the artist, it nonetheless occurs. It is how a conventional viewer attempts to communicate with the work. When you work on big canvas, this tendency, I find increases. Thus the “big thing” on the canvas is born. America’s obsession and arrogant-based “bigger is better” thinking associated with “big” products and consumption, is quite evident in the design of automobiles, houses, office buildings, and the like. “Big things” have driven the U.S. to be the one of the largest consumers and polluters of the world’s resources. In this time of focus on global warming and Eco-systems, “big” has arguably proven to be a negative and costly asset for America. The exhibit displays six abstract works in which the abstract object (the big fucking thing”) dominates the canvas. John Eastman |