Dustin Campbell: J-O-B
J-O-B
A mixed media exhibition by NAPOLEON member Dustin Campbell
“To the extent to which he imagined a purpose to his life, he adapted himself to the demands of a purpose to be achieved and became the slave of his liberty. Thus I could not act otherwise than as the father (or the engineer or the leader of a nation, or the post-office sub-clerk) that I am preparing to be.” – Albert Camus
Inspired by the writings of Philosopher Albert Camus, artist Dustin Campbell uses his own experiences as a company driver to put forth J-O-B, a multimedia exhibition that explores a misguided search for autonomy and the fractured identity of artist and laborer. J-O-B compares the often erroneous career paths we envision as children to the economic uncertainty that threatens the aspirations we cling to as adults.
Opening First Friday, October 5th
6pm – 10pm
NAPOLEON
319 N 11th Street, 2L
Philadelphia, PA
Exhibition Dates: 10.5.12 – 10.26.12
Gallery Hours: Saturdays and Sundays 2pm – 6pm or by appointment
In an essay about Campbell and J-O-B, artist Addie Langford writes:
Though the subject of countless artist/thinkers, memory and nostalgia remain a fascination. But inherent to nostalgia is not only the recall of activities, but the longing to return to a time deemed more full in certain ways than the now we are living daily. Viewing Dustin Campbell’s work is like walking onto an iced pond and peering through a hole or thinning in the surface. Through mark making, color, opacity and a reoccurring sense of flinching or being thwarted, a sense of caution emerges. It is not a sense of violence, however, but a mild mistrust or disillusion, a re-writing of a history you thought you understood. In the words of French novelist and philosopher, Albert Camus, a heavy influence for Campbell, the condition of modern being – and the makers responding to this modern being – is captured in the predicament of Sisyphus, and Campbell is yet one more as he shifts without warning between the claims of his medium and the latest trend of anything-goes.
For a link to web-based version of the entire essay, click here.
To download a .pdf version of the entire essay, click Search and Rescue: Diagrams of Monotony and Distress in the Work of Dustin Campbell
NAPOLEON 