What was the inspiration behind the project and what references did you look at when beginning the piece?
This work comes from the Privilege series which, like other works of mine, looks at spaces that are categorized as neutral or "normal" (instead of feminine or ethnic, etc.) by the ruling classes.
The element of performance is quite prevalent in your work. How does the photobooth play into this?
This part of the installation was determined before I even started working on the installation. It wasn't my idea originally but I like the idea of a Photo Booth especially when it gives a printed photograph. I like the lives this piece of paper can have. I still print a lot of photographs myself and like finding them unexpectedly.
How does a work such as "Dignity" play out in the context of an art fair versus a gallery space, where many of the themes such as power structures, privilege, and celebrity are literally at play?
I don't think art happens at the gallery, or the fair, or the museum. Art happens somewhere else. I don't prioritize one exhibition sphere over another, I don't think there's any difference, in the end, they all respond to the same capitalist needs. There are few exceptions but they always seem too pure to survive.
What do the elements of the blue walls, the stripper pole, and the clouded sky symbolize in the work?
The whole idea behind the Privilege series was to generate content based on a character that was an exaggeration of myself and the strange period of time the performance took place (the 2016 US presidential election). The blue sky was taken from the office ceiling where the content was filmed in Downtown Los Angeles, the stripper pole is a reference to Excellences & Perfections, the cane is a reference to... well, my own cane (I have a disability). Things just work or not. I just saw this room in my head and thought it worked. Deconstructing it won't really go anywhere. Art shouldn't be explained.
How has your work evolved with the changing landscape of social media?
I was never interested in social media but on the internet at large. My background is in internet art. I care about social media insofar as that it says something new about the economy and human relations.
Your “Dignity” installation incorporates red carpet images of yourself photoshopped with semen superimposed onto your face. Was this inspired by an interest in celebrity culture?
I don't care that much about celebrity culture. When I worked on the images that are also titled Dignity, I was more interested in the sexuality of the men photoshopping these red carpet images. The amount of care and attention to detail given to something others might consider degrading fascinates me.