The Exquisite Corpse home archives submit black market comrads hot sites search
The Exquisite Corpse - A Journal of Letters and Life
Edited by Andrei Codrescu
ec chair poetick kultur anti-amthropomorphism
gallery zounds the making and unmaking of person
new economics of late capitalism
diaries and memoirs translation and her retinue
working class sweat
the corpse reads classics letters the book of revelations and epiphanies
the making and unmaking of person
Gallery

August Highland

I define myself as a visual artist who creates work to be hung in a physical space and who uses digital tools to assist him in the production of his work.

"Alphanumeric Painting" is one of the titles that has been attributed to my work. It is a good title because all the compositional elements in my work are text-based materials.

Though the elements are comprised of language, I am not trying to produce cognitive or syntactic meaning. This is why I use abbreviated phrases, single words and sometimes I will even use only parts of words or single characters. I do this because the printed word is displayed in our environment in a non-linear fashion. I am representing this in my visual work. I am documenting how the printed word is used in the world around us today.

I have a strong interest in dissolving conventional boundaries between artistic disciplines. In my work I am fusing the divide between the literary and fine arts. This is another reason why I have made the decision to use text as the main compositional element in my paintings. For me it is necessary to bridge this divide because, firstly, it can be argued that literature has evolved into a visual art form, and, secondly, painting has never fully explored language as a compositional tool. When I recognized this unexplored terrain, I was immediately drawn to it, sensing that there was much to be reaped by advancing in this direction and using the elements from one discipline (literature) in the structure and design of another (painting).

I am also intentionally spanning the gulf between net art and gallery art. Currently there is a tendency for net artists and gallery artists to polarize. I personally do not think this is necessary; net art is additive. Gallery artists, like myself, can utilize many of the new tools that net art has used, but we can apply them innovatively.

Some people who are traditionally oriented in their thinking are not prepared to accept the value of my work because of the fact that my hand has not physically touched the painting. Some artists have worked around this dilemma by adding other media to digitally assisted visual work either by treating the paper with watercolor before printing the work or by applying other media like acrylic or oil to the work after it has been printed. This is a practice I have used in my work. For some collectors this adds value to my work. To other collectors and critics, this is not a significant issue.

I like to be flexible; sometimes a work calls for additional media to be incorporated into it. What is most important to me is that I do not allow ideologies to dictate how I produce my work. My visceral response to my work is more important to me than whether it conforms to an ideology.

My hope is that the viewer will stand in front of my work and judge it experientially. I create my paintings for the viewer to experience and enjoy through the use of their intuitive understanding and emotional intelligence.


Editors' Note: Due to the nature of August Highland's artwork, we could not transfer it to our website intact. Therefore, we are publishing the links to the site where it is presently hosted. Once there, use the next button to advance through a particular piece.


Title: Boulder, Co.
Project: Alphanumeric Labs
(25 works from a series of 500)
http://www.alphanumericlabs.com/boulder/boulder001.html
(press next to advance through the piece)


Title: Postage Stamp
Project: Alphanumeric Labs
(25 works from a series of 500)
http://www.alphanumericlabs.com/postage_stamp/postage_stamp001.html
(press next to advance through the piece)


Title: Prague.
Project: Alphanumeric Labs
(25 works from a series of 500)

http://www.alphanumericlabs.com/prague/prague001.html
(press next to advance through the piece)

Title: South Africa
Project: Alphanumeric Labs
(25 works from a series of 500)
http://www.alphanumericlabs.com/south_africa/south_africa001.html
(press next to advance through the piece)

Title: Madrid
Project: Alphanumeric Labs
(25 works from a series of 500)
http://www.alphanumericlabs.com/madrid/madrid001.html
(press next to advance through the piece)

Title: UK
Project: Alphanumeric Labs
(25 works from a series of 500)
http://www.alphanumericlabs.com/uk/uk001.html
(press next to advance through the piece)

Title: Berlin
Project: Alphanumeric Labs
(25 works from a series of 500)
http://www.alphanumericlabs.com/berlin/berlin001.html
(press next to advance through the piece)

Title: Amsterdam
Project: Alphanumeric Labs
(25 works from a series of 500)
http://www.alphanumericlabs.com/amsterdam/amsterdam001.html
(press next to advance through the piece)

Title: Paris
Project: Alphanumeric Labs
(25 works from a series of 500)
http://www.alphanumericlabs.com/paris/paris001.html
(press next to advance through the piece)


 

 

 

home archives submit black market comrads hot sites search ec chair peotick kultur anti-amthropomorphism
new economics of late capitalism gallery zounds the making and unmaking of person
diaries and memoirs translation and her retinue
the book of revelations and epiphanies working class sweat
the making and unmaking of person the corpse reads classics letters

©1999-2004 Exquisite Corpse.
Site design by Compulsive Creations.