Julie Arnold
7 January 1993 - 30 January 1993
Opening Reception 7 January 1993 8pm
Project Room Series #1: Logo Series
Writing the text for my own exhibition document, several options are open-to me. I could produce an artist’s statement didactic in tone. This approach would serve to explain Logo Series in the form of a digestible capsule including a definition of terms:
As artists continue to acknowledge their role as marginal players in our society’s visual and textual production, the need to come to terms with the dominant producers remains prevalent. Thus we see in Logo Series an ironic collapsing of “high” culture, (esoteric words denoting philosophical, theological, scientific, and medical discourse) with the ubiquitous world of the logotype. The recurring prefix logo comes from the – Greek and means word, reason, or speech…
Or, I could aspire to the realm of analytical discourse:
Mimics understand that they dwell in a space occupied by far larger personalities than themselves. They temporarily shed their own identities in order to take on another. This act almost invariably reveals the stock nature of the “original” while at the same time, uncovering the complex ways such stereotypes dominate our consciousness. Intentions vary of course, from-the homage (conscious or otherwise) to the cruel parody. Paying tribute indicates a desire to share in the power which is seen,to reside with the prototype. Those inclined towards emulation accept the hierarchy as it exists, but search for an entry point. Parodying involves a desire to confiscate and/or dismantle positions of influence and authority. For those who are unhappy with the status quo, there comes the realization that the greater the ease with which the parody is accomplished, the greater the reassurance for those who wish to laugh.
A search for an alternative to the apologia brings me to a third option: poetics. But the only poetry I can indulge in is the list:
logocentric
logocracy
logodaedaly
logolatry
logomachy
logomania
logonomy
logophite
logophobia
Logos.
– Julie Arnold
