| I am fascinated by the emotional and cultural dislocation that has been enabled and accelerated in our media-centric society. I believe what is mainstream today has largely become relevant simply as a result of exposure and distribution, while content itself has been pushed to the margins, and is often generic. My work is often a comment on the “media noise” found in this information age. I re-contextualize the familiar into an exaggerated version of itself, and hope to present the viewer with the paradoxical feeling of being seduced while alienated, or compelled to watch something they may find disturbing. By saturating the work with production value, the visual impact comes close to the point of sensory overload. In doing so, I hope to subvert the subject while elevating it into something more mythic and iconic than it would be in its original context. |  |
Marco Brambilla
Marco Brambilla, Still from Cathedral (projection version), 2008. High-definition Blu-Ray DVD, color, sound, 9:32 minute loop, dimensions variable. Edition of 3. Courtesy of Christopher Grimes Gallery and the artist.
I am fascinated by the emotional and cultural dislocation that has been enabled and accelerated in our media-centric society. I believe what is mainstream today has largely become relevant simply as a result of exposure and distribution, while content itself has been pushed to the margins, and is often generic. My work is often a comment on the “media noise” found in this information age.
I re-contextualize the familiar into an exaggerated version of itself, and hope to present the viewer with the paradoxical feeling of being seduced while alienated, or compelled to watch something they may find disturbing. By saturating the work with production value, the visual impact comes close to the point of sensory overload. In doing so, I hope to subvert the subject while elevating it into something more mythic and iconic than it would be in its original context.
There is no conventional narrative in my work, but rather the juxtaposition of visuals and their presentation to create a visual narrative which functions on a subliminal level. My use of found footage from films and video games definitely feeds into this mechanism, and holds a specific appeal for me given my background as a mainstream filmmaker. Over the years, the subjects that have become the basis for work have been commercial tourism, video games, pornography, consumerism, and the cult of self-empowerment.
