At one time or another, we all face a sense of meaninglessness, some of us on a daily basis. There are an infinite number of ways to defend ourselves against it, some of which are culturally sanctioned: parenting, romantic love, friendship, careers.
However, some of the more prevalent, quotidian tactics are often criticized as questionable solutions to meaninglessness. They are seen as obsessions or addictions that waste our time.
Using the recurring strategies of appropriation, accumulaton, collecton, and juxtaposition, I explore the existential significance of entertainment practices and hobbies, from television watching to collecting, from crafting to gaming. I draw parallels between the denigrated subcultures which spring up around such activities and the widely revered subcultures of the Art World and of Academia. By creating hybrid works which employ the histories and languages of both “Pop” Culture and “High” Culture, I reveal the cultural and personal spaces where these binaries overlap.
I focus on cultural participation as a means to meaning. By cultural participation, I mean an active engagement with culture, as both a producer and a consumer, as a critic and a champion. And by culture, I mean TV and movies, the Internet, painting and sculpture, video games, collecting, scrapbooking, comic books, academic theory, shopping, etc. All the ways we engage with culture are meaningful.