$tudio Visit #1: Legacy Russell

AMERICAN IDOLATRY: A proposal by Legacy Russell

"Ritual, repetition, and reproduction [used to be]...matters of religion; they were practiced in isolated, sacred places. In the modern age, ritual, repetition, and reproduction have become the fate of the entire world, of the entire culture. Everything reproduces itself—capital, commodities, technology, and art.  - Boris Groys, Religion in the Digital Age of Reproduction

OPEN CEREMONY / American Idolatry will explore the processes, imagery, and ideologies surrounding the establishment of ceremony, ritual, and idolatry within a contemporary framework. This project will take place in two parts, linked thematically." [MORE]

So, with that concept in mind, Legacy met with me for an unconventional studio visit at Dollar Deal.  Beginning with Aisle 1 (Hair Accessories-Hosiery-Pets) and winding our way around the store to the Back Wall (Kitchen Aids-Brooms-Mops-Plungers) we discussed the themes that continually present themselves in my studio practice and the brief history of my art making.  I shared the seed for a group of objects I'd like to create using brooms, and the connection that this tool has with American history, character, and the ideals we've branded as a part of the American personality. We also spoke of the studio being a kind of gallery space that makes presentation the dominant factor, rather than an exploration of process that the visit could potentially tease out.