PROJECT 3: Analog / Analogy

Ryan Daly, 7/19/13 - 5:39 am - 6:09 am, 2013,100 Instax photographs, 36”x40”

Jacob Heustis, Orange, 2014, Oil on Canvas, 44”x50”

Conversation with Ryan Daly, Jacob Heustis, and Suzanne Weaver

May 15, 2014

SW: In this Digital Age, why organize an exhibition about analog and analogy? Is it a sentimental, nostalgic and even romantic, gesture?

JH: Through this exhibition, we are not trying to take away from or criticize culture. But for us, there does seem to be a disconnect.

RD: Digital is a different experience.

JH: Digital is absolute; it’s fixed.

RD: It is not necessarily sentimental or nostalgic. It’s more of a celebration, a championing of a condition--the analog medium. It was once the only game in town, but now it’s viewed as deficient, or ineffectual, more of a crutch than a benefit.

JH: Its practicality has been superseded, and we are not sure it’s been fully investigated.

RD: So let’s slow down, take a step back, and examine the analog medium. The qualities that make it what it is; instead of this knee jerk reaction that digital is superior, analog inferior, and that one is better to the other.

JH: One is different from the other, especially in terms of aesthetics. It’s this aesthetic difference that we are interested in exploring.

SW: Are there differences in experiences?

JH: Differences in qualities of experiences.

SW: How so? What are these differences?

JH: Well, to begin with, analog is rounded; it’s a continual wave. Whereas with digital, it’s angular and a bit stream; it’s represented by numerous tiny squares. In terms of aesthetics, it’s a matter of what you are more attracted to.

RD: And I feel a kinship with the analog signal, there is naturalism to it. In a way, we as human are analog systems. We have a pulse, an electrical current, a wave of existence.

JH: A living thing, something that will deteriorate.

RD: We are not absolute, we are not fixed. It’s this change in physical phenomena, this time varying quality that makes analog an aesthetically exciting medium.

SW: Let’s talk about in the work in the exhibition. Jake, what was your process in making these seven paintings?

JH: Where my previous work focuses on the process, and is self referential, very aware of itself as a commodity and a piece of art, these paintings are purely aesthetic. More about the medium and color.

Paint, at its core, is color.

SW: Is this work a change or shift from what you have been doing?

JH: Yes, there is still an immediacy and an energy in the mark making, but using the grid and applying the paint straight from the tube, eliminates certain choices. There is “wastefulness” in using entire tubes of paint that seems a little reckless and defiant, which I find refreshing.

SW: Why these particular colors?

JH: I figured it best to start with the foundation, the spectrum, but I had to include pink. Pink is a very poignant color and very distinct. I wanted an object that was pure and visceral – about the paint. I am not mixing these colors, I’m just using what is readily available--mass produced. Similar to how the cave painters used charcoal and natural pigments. It doesn’t need to be complex, just present.

6/1/14 - 6:00 am - 7:07 am, 2014 900 Instax photographs, 96” x 144”

Swanson Contemporary, the Green Building Gallery, Land of Tomorrow, Actor’s Theatre, Brown Theatre, the Speed Art Museum, Kentucky School of Art and other alternative public and private spaces.