STATEMENT

i produced these two pieces in january. movin' on up is a performance score i used at the DCAC's "in your ear series" which i was invited to read at on january 16th. it is perhaps one of my more personal works. filled with 'codes' that 'trigger' responses within my performance, it also contains the list of poems i read that afternoon. there is an homage to michael basinski (also in this show) whose the coming of circles is always a pleasure. as the performance took place in DC it is also a political score tracking my growth in post-industrial buffalo and subsequent move to baltimore where the economy is growing to DC, a financial and political center.

dedicated follower of fashion is a piece that started from mail-artist claudio romeo. romeo sends out the 'picture' with a man's covered face and a blank t-shirt which i am supposed to fill in and send back to him. i wanted to oblige, but somehow this happened. wanting to stay true to romeo's initial idea i began to research post-structuralist roland barthes who wrote volumes about such things as fashion. writings on or about barthes make up the pieces of text in the background, but to illustrate that his writings were not empty intellectualizing, i used a piece of barthes to cut through the 't-shirt' which is made up of 'popular' fashion magazines. with all the sharp angles, i used red, black, and white pieces of paper for the background in a nod to the constructivists of the early russian avant-garde, and to tie it all in, buttons to refer directly to the world of clothing and fashion. the title of the piece is taken from the kinks, a band whose dedication to social criticism i have always enjoyed.

i'd like to thank carlos luis and the durban segnini gallery for their efforts. to contact me, please email me: kevinDOTthurstonATgmailDOTcom