public figures / recent media
Contemporary
A hyper-contemporary route through pop stars, streamers, AI figures, games, cartoons, reality media, and celebrity image-pressure.
A quick exhibit for works anchored in public figures and media from roughly the last 10 to 15 years.
Pop - Image feed
Scene 1
Hot Pink
PinkPantheress at Coachella.
Song Pairing: PinkPantheress - Blue
Blue coat, green field, cropped pop-star body.
Scene 2
Barnes and Noble
Kanye West and Michael Jackson.
Song Pairing: MGMT - The Handshake
Kanye, Michael, fluorescent retail.
AI - Public intellects
Scene 3
Amanda Askell
I want you to be proud of me (Amanda Askell).
Song Pairing: STRFKR - Tape Machine
Askell is a philosopher and AI-alignment researcher at Anthropic. This one reads like a machine talking to its maker.
Scene 4
Sam Altman
Sam-I-Am.
Song Pairing: Computerwife - Ignore Facts
Stitched mouth, animal fear, corporate puppet face.
Brands - Body as product
Scene 5
Hypebeast
BEEF.
Song Pairing: The Friends of Distinction - Grazing in the Grass
The cow wears the joke.
Cartoon - Borrowed performance
Scene 6
I AM NOT A JOKE
Duck song + Yeezus.
Song Pairing: Kanye West - On Sight
Comedy as trial transcript.
Stream - Online faces
Scene 7
Clavicular
Pre Overdose and Nosejob.
Song Pairing: Kanye West - Wolves
Before the body was headline.
Scene 8
Stand Up Routine
IG Reels stand-up routine.
Song Pairing: Jack Stauber's Micropop - Inchman
The joke casts a monster shadow.
Pop - Costume body
Scene 9
Sex
What's My Age Again?
Song Pairing: Rocky Horror Picture Show - Time Warp
The Enema of the State nurse wanders into the glove archive.
Public ritual - Evidence and spectacle
Scene 10
Put The Gloves On
OJ Simpson.
Song Pairing: ABBA - Mamma Mia
The glove as evidence, costume, and bit.
Reality - Fishtank Live
Scene 11
Broken by Superbed (Aryeh)
Fishtank Live Season 4.
Song Pairing: Jean Dawson & Rusowsky - KINKI FIGARO
Black balaclava, pale eyes, pale mouth.
Scene 12
Broken by Superbed (Daniel and Angelina)
Fishtank Live Season 4.
Song Pairing: Jean Dawson & Rusowsky - KINKI FIGARO
Chains in a domestic room.
Scene 13
Broken by Superbed (Sam and Ellie)
Fishtank Live Season 4.
Song Pairing: Jean Dawson & Rusowsky - KINKI FIGARO
Sam and Ellie before the panel.
Scene 14
Broken by Superbed (Rachel)
Fishtank Live Season 4.
Song Pairing: Jean Dawson & Rusowsky - KINKI FIGARO
Rachel mid-speech.
Games - Rule worlds
Scene 15
Baba Is Win
BABA IS WIN.
Song Pairing: The Strokes - Games
Rule text on a blackboard field.
Franchise - Soft danger
Scene 16
Sensitive Young Fascist
Anakin becomes Vader.
Song Pairing: Yves Tumor - Heaven Surrounds Us Like a Hood…
A soft face at the edge of the fall.
Pop - Small body
Scene 17
Baby Boy
Justin Bieber Halloween 2022.
Song Pairing: Radiohead - Sulk
Tiny pop body, bad room, hard color.
Puppet - Fan object
Scene 18
Oobi Groupie
Oobi already was hand-face.
Song Pairing: Passion Pit - Folds in Your Hands
Puppet, fan, portrait.
Music - Hair as title
Scene 19
Skrillex Hair
Skrillex Hair.
Song Pairing: kitty ray - $krillionaire
The title is doing the haircut.
Talk show - Celebrity sentence
Scene 20
Sophisticated Ignorance
Ellen as accuser, Kanye as clown.
Song Pairing: Kanye West & Jay-Z - Why I Love You
Talk-show table, plants, red line.