Joshua Wade Smith, "I’ll Take the High Road," 2011
Both of the works he presented were endurance tests of sorts. With the first work, Joshua rendered the same drawing of a creature (Sasquatch? Teddy Bear? Kitty cat? Terrier? Owl?) twenty times over (the initial drawing is mounted straight ahead), reducing the time spent on each sequential drawing by three minutes. For example, he spent 60 minutes on the first Island Eyes drawing, yet only three minutes on the last one, thus foregoing many of the details that distinguish earlier versions from latter ones. When Joshua bicycles in the gallery, stranded atop a deserted island, his silhouette appears in the screen above. The soundtrack captures Joshua riding his bicycle in situ, while reading Chapters 3, 4 & 5 of Robinson Crusoe.
Copyright 2017 Sue Spaid