Demaggio
THE AMBIGUOUS CONVERSATION PIECE
The Ambiguous Conversation Piece evolved from a combination of my fascination with the written word, and the nature of text, language, and visual communication in general. The pieces themselves consist of a layer of text, obscured in some way as to make it unintelligible. Over time, the text in my work has become more and more obscure, with the objective of creating a pared-down, more figurative, rather than contextual, presentation. My intent is to engage my audience by appealing to an instinctive predisposition to recognize textual language, but to then stunt that recognition by eliminating the readability of the messages inside.
By allowing viewers to recognize textual content, but obscuring it enough to make the message unclear, I am attempting to draw my audience closer to the work, in the hope they will become more fully engaged by it. The deliberately distorted subject is frustrating for the viewer, not necessarily because there is any elevated meaning to be found inside, but instead, it is because of the viewer’s own awareness of that notion. Whether any particular work contains a life-changing bit of wisdom is impossible to determine. The viewer’s notion of clarity and understanding, generally provided by the written word, is being used against them. Essentially, I am attempting to create a dialog with no final resolution. The world is filled with anti-climax, and inevitably, the revelation of a secret is not nearly as engaging or thought-provoking, as being left in the dark.
Are there legitimate messages contained in the work? Yes. Those messages come from myriad places. Some are my own; some, from works of literature; some, from snippets of conversation overheard on the subway. They cover a wide spectrum, and range from being embarrassingly personal, to profound, to absurdly funny. However, within their current context, these messages provide a sense of anticipation and curiosity that will never be realized.
The Ambiguous Conversation Piece evolved from a combination of my fascination with the written word, and the nature of text, language, and visual communication in general. The pieces themselves consist of a layer of text, obscured in some way as to make it unintelligible. Over time, the text in my work has become more and more obscure, with the objective of creating a pared-down, more figurative, rather than contextual, presentation. My intent is to engage my audience by appealing to an instinctive predisposition to recognize textual language, but to then stunt that recognition by eliminating the readability of the messages inside.
By allowing viewers to recognize textual content, but obscuring it enough to make the message unclear, I am attempting to draw my audience closer to the work, in the hope they will become more fully engaged by it. The deliberately distorted subject is frustrating for the viewer, not necessarily because there is any elevated meaning to be found inside, but instead, it is because of the viewer’s own awareness of that notion. Whether any particular work contains a life-changing bit of wisdom is impossible to determine. The viewer’s notion of clarity and understanding, generally provided by the written word, is being used against them. Essentially, I am attempting to create a dialog with no final resolution. The world is filled with anti-climax, and inevitably, the revelation of a secret is not nearly as engaging or thought-provoking, as being left in the dark.
Are there legitimate messages contained in the work? Yes. Those messages come from myriad places. Some are my own; some, from works of literature; some, from snippets of conversation overheard on the subway. They cover a wide spectrum, and range from being embarrassingly personal, to profound, to absurdly funny. However, within their current context, these messages provide a sense of anticipation and curiosity that will never be realized.
