Adam Reeder & Atlas with iPod Prepare for Lift Off
Mon, February 15, 2010 Nothing makes me happier than seeing a talented artist like Adam Reeder receive recognition. Better yet, a check coming with the accolades is even more cause for applause.
The minute I saw photos of Adam Reeder’s art in late December, I saw and heard him speaking two languages with his work. For every thought that Adam articulates, an unconscious one seeps out of his mind and into his forms and images.
Atlas with His iPod by Adam reederBeing a Mac person with an equal interest in Greco-Roman gods and iconic Greek sculptures — especially when interacting with themes of gender, sensuality, religion and technology — I believe that Adam’s work is original, incredibly fresh and intellectually provocative.
He’s avoiding some of the controversial subjects for now but I’m dying for him to go there. Religion and female sensuality would be perfect. It’s already bubbling in some of his other work.
In the same way that operas are trying to understand the best way to engage the younger generation by making opera relevant to their worldview, Adam’s sculptures engage a younger generation with concepts of civilization in a modern context.
I don’t see Greek gods being a common topic of discussion with gamers, but ‘Pan with his iPod’ is a conversation generator.
Sleeping Gamer by Adam ReederSpeaking with Nicholas Forrest of Art Market Blog about his ‘Socio-Technic Evolution’ series, Adam said:
Pan with his mp3 player is the first in the series. It has won first place in the spring show at the San Francisco Academy of art university, as well as getting into other shows. My goal was to combine iconic Grecian images, and god’s with well known technological objects. The Grecian images and god’s were to represent western culture. The Greco-Roman empires are known as the root of western culture. I avoided using anything from the Cartesian time periods so as to keep the religious contexts out of the discourse.
Adam had such good news recently. His Mac-related works are featured as part of Macworld currently in full swing. Better yet, the organizers are impressed with Adam’s ‘Socio-Technic Evolution’ sculptures and want them at future Macworlds.
This moment I just heard from Reeder. ‘Atlas’ was featured on the Wall Street Journal in a MacWorld story, which I saw. It’s gone now, but Adam reports lots of blog and Twitter feeds about his work. Bravo.
If you believe in the concept of Jung’s collective unconscious, then you will understand my point that I believe the quiet voices of civilization, the themes of humanity are speaking to him. That sounds grand, but I believe that if Adam unlocks his creativity, as he has done with his ‘Socio-Technic Evolution’ series, he could be an oracle for our time.
What I like about Atlas and the iPod even more than the gamer sculpture is that the size of the iPod in white balances the significance of the technology as a modern idea machine against the classical form.
In the gamer sculpture, I want the modern vision spring out of his sleeping head, sort of like Minerva being born from the head of Zeus. Are the gamer’s dreams modern or ancient? Is he dreaming about McDonald’s golden arches or a creature from Avatar? Or a porn star?
As you can tell, I’m jazzed about the possiblities here, if Adam goes deep into his creative self. And it comes at a time when we desperately need thoughtful people expressing worldly messages in terms we can understand easily.
Here’s another link to Adam’s website. If you have questions or ideas to be included in our upcoming interview, drop me a comment or a note in Contact Anne.
Reader Comments (1)
Thank you for this.., atleast I found it as an interesting read