Cory Arcangel

Cory Arcangel, a Brooklyn-based multi media artist has become well known for his masterful modifications to particular video games, music videos, films as well as youtube videos. Cory Arcangel repeatedly introduces his use of hacking, better known as appropriation, to modify different types of software to appreciate and evaluate the technology that surrounds us today. His art is centered around technology’s relation to different culture, media appropriation and its effect on us today. His art is meant to nostalgically intrigue people, yet provoke them with pop culture. He starts the exhibition by getting his viewers to experience an ambience that is meant to look playfully unprofessional, by using bright colors and childish imagery that can be easily reproduced. Arcangel’s conceptually driven art is meant to let others question the true depth of his art, rather than simply enjoying it aesthetically. His Gallery, ironically named Power Points, is interactive, although disconnected, aggravating and provides an effective understanding of popular entertainment and culture. Cory Arcancel’s work is a clear example of a question of authorship and the true value of the art itself.

To begin his Power Point exhibition, he displays 5 large Photoshop Gradient Demonstrations with a thick purple shag carpet to set the homey atmosphere to the room. Arcangel’s colorful prints were produced by using a gradient tool, commonly used on photoshop. His conceptually driven, first room, brings up the notion of lack of skill and more mechanically reproduced art work. The 5 pieces were mimicking more of a color field style of art, which had emerged in New York throughout the 1940’s and 1950’s. The bright, geometrical, photoshop gradient pieces of art and the purple carpet, make it a fun and childish first impression. However, due to the fact that all the pieces of art are computer generated, it makes it uncomfortable for its audience to consider it unique to the artist. These large