The written text,
Budget Decadence, appeared in two distinct visual forms. The first was an installation in the Lobby Gallery at the Hammer Museum. The second is a book published by 2nd Cannons Publications. Each project used the same five-chapter novella as the basis for the visuals.
The printed volume received a baroque treatment with illuminated borders around each page of text, and photo collages announcing each chapter.
The Hammer installation was more austere, with a series of handmade books that viewers were welcome to sit down and read. The largest wall of the gallery was covered with a text-based wallpaper upon which hung an image of a gutted deer hanging from a tree. The background behind the deer had been scratched by an X-acto knife with a detailed and elaborate wallpaper pattern, bringing him into a domestic space, or putting a bright face on his personal tragedy. Five other images of an empty room are given various treatments that offer possible psychological projections upon the empty domestic space.
christopher@russellarchive.com
Inquiries: Luis De Jesus, Los Angeles(c) Christopher Russell
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