Title
Creation Date
2016
Preview
Medium
video projection and oil on paper
Description
Dimensions: 228.6 cm x 279.4 cm
Rights
© Ben Geeslin, 2016. Photo Credit: Allison Corona.
COinS
Artist Statement
Recently I have begun examining in the way in which meaning is encoded and encapsulated in semiotic structures. As a painter, this study has primarily been directed toward symbolic structures. While exploring the processes of symbolic encoding, it is inevitable that meaning itself and its particular qualities are examined as well.
New Planar Myths considers the transitive, associative, volatile, and sometimes fugitive quality of meaning in relation to its corresponding symbolic structure. A symbol is meant to confine and encapsulate a putatively static instance of specific meaning, but the structure of the symbol itself is porous. The work consists of a video projection onto a single, modular painting. The subject matter is denatured architectonic textures, surfaces, and structural elements. The modular painting consists of an array of serialized data. I define the painting as modular because it consists of interchangeable parts. The video projection depicts recursive, potential encoding paths for new meaning. The denatured quality of the subject matter allows for an expansion of its semantic range. When many symbols are grouped together their contents’ volatility is exacerbated; however, the close proximity simultaneously augments their associative capacities. New structures and spaces are formed within the painting, the projection, and their overlap. Each of these three layers expose new potentials for encoding the depicted subject matter. Each offers a chance for potential reconciliation between the structure and its contents. The elements within the work exist tenuously but make declarative statements. The symbol seeks to deny its porousness at any cost.