Cory Arcangel was born in Buffalo, NY but according to his website currently lives in Stavanger, Norway but he works in New York. He considers himself an artist and entrepreneur. His work is made and presents itself on a wide range of media. He is an active artist and has been a part of many shows in the past. He also has a company with which he sells merchandise and designs/creates these products as well.
I enjoy the personality and online presence that he has. It’s approachable and relatable. For example he lists axl rose’s twitter as an influence. Also just the F.A.Q. on his website, he seems like a genuinely nice guy who is just doing what he loves. I am here for it.
The Lakes series
The whole series is interesting, especially the images that are chosen to produce this Lake effect. It caught my eye initially because there was a snapchat filter that was similar and whatever you took a picture of was mirrored at the bottom of the screen. They’re also simplistic technically but again, the content of this series is what makes it worth noting and looking at.
This concept was really interesting to me, where in his other 8-bit mods he had altered things to be more artistic, ex: removing everything but the clouds. Here however, the manipulation of the game itself is the art, and the time manipulation. It’s crazy to me that he alters these cartridges in the way that he does because it sounds very technically challenging.
His commentary on this project too, makes me like it better. The idea of ‘upsetting’ interactive things is one that I can get on board with. The frustration he has created through a game that is already frustrating for a lot of people? I think it’s funny and great.
(Note: He did a similar thing with space invader. He made mindlessly enjoyable games essentially unplayable and there’s almost something fascinating and metaphorical in that concept. Or maybe it’s just amusing to take the basic joy out of something? I don’t know.)
The collection that this piece was a part of caught my attention, because he quoted Miley Cyrus. This large scale installation is a part of “This is all so crazy, everybody seems so famous.” It is a part of the series, Photoshop Gradient Demonstrations, which I think is hilarious in the most artistic way possible. He could have very easily done this demonstration digitally and put it on a screen, but no. The title tells you exactly what it is demonstrating, and he printed it on carpet. There’s the juxtaposition too of something that is considered a digital tool within photoshop that is then transferred onto a physical object. That too gives it something to be remarked about. It’s a very simple idea but done in an interesting way that gives it more value than it would have had otherwise. If it were just a simple everyday online demonstration or image, no one would have noticed.