Originally posted by the
San Francisco Bay Guardian
A promise that all our ailments will disappear and our wildest dreams
will come true ... for a small price. Or for the price of your soul?
Dr. Flotsam and his self-described "crew of carny bastards," sprung from
the wild mind of San Francisco artist Mike Shine, ask us the worth of
that exchange. The question is scattered through the paintings,
performance, and graphic novel of his show, "
Flotsam's Harvest," up now through April 6 at
White Walls.
According to the show's press release:
"'Flotsam’s Harvest' will be a sweeping installation of street art,
paintings, films, a medicine show performance and the launching of
Shine’s graphic novella. Each aspect of the show will provide different
coded tips and hints, offered to help viewers solve the dark 'World
Riddle' posed by Friedrich Nietzsche in his book,
Thus Spake Zarathustra."
Intrigued? The opening at
White Walls
Sat/16 had enough stimulation to dissolve even the hardest
anti-consumerist into clapping, grinning, and Irish drinking-song
singing. But the mystical "Hell Brew" the medicine show promoted wasn't
for sale. Whether it was ploy to sell the art or vice versa is still up
for debate.
Shine's devilish paintings of animals and figures fuse illustration
and graffiti styles. Their rustic colors are blockish and thickly lined
like cartoons, while the dripping paint, stray marks, collaged tickets,
and spray paint give an urban art feel. These hip but simple paintings
are enhanced by frames carved with animal figures and hung on walls
painted with radiating text that's as inscrutable as gang tags. Similar
murals are also painted around in the city with Banksy-esque portraits
of the "carny bastards." But despite how cool they are, the artworks
were not the selling point for me.
Shine's opening night performance (similar to those he has done at
Outside Lands and
SFMOMA),
was equally as rich and cryptic. It began in some form of Gaelic or Old
English with subtitles on cards and continued with Dr. Flotsam selling
his mystical tonic in a thick, comical accent. We all knew the audience
volunteer selected to test the brew was a plant (in the form of YouTube
dance star
takesomecrime): he hobbled on stage but was "cured" after swigging from Dr. Flotsam's flask, and began shuffling to electro swing by Skewiff.
This wildly entertaining evening can't be isolated as the meat of
what Shine has made either, but it began to make sense of what was going
on. The sense of irony was ripe when Dr. Flotsam noted that the
government doesn't permit medicine shows because they "lie to you."
(This sense of danger in the promise was deepened in his disclaimer that
you can have your widest dreams come true, if you're willing to part
with your soul.)
A similar theme emerges in the accompanying graphic novel, in which
Dr. Flotsam intervenes in the lives of people who have notably impacted
history, like the caveman who made fire, Jesus, or the inventor of
penicillin. But each one pays a heavy price for the advice they receive.
The conflation of good and bad creates a wild sense of anarchy which
gives reason for, and holds the key to, the intense and scattered
information Shine draws upon for his work.
In a culture where added dimension in art and immersive stimulation
in film are often confused with creative quality, Shine has created a
show which uses both to convey his meaning. But after the whole
experience puzzling out the riddle, I was left wanting. The entertaining
trail of information ended in a simple answer, but opened up a number
of new questions: was it about merging the body and soul by processing
his art in order to gain a stronger sense of identity? Or about how
commodities are sold with flair and gusto, but in their mass production
fail to truly appeal to the individual? Or is Shine just trying to fuck
with people? Maybe you should take a look at the riddle and figure it
out for yourself.
Mike Shine, "Flotsam's Harvest"
Through April 6
White Walls Gallery
886 Geary, SF
www.whitewallssf.com
LA-based DJ Nosaj Thing provided a perfect lead into the show. His thoughtfully arranged collage of samples toured the world from London dubstep to Indian drumming, then came home to artists like Flying Lotus and Dntel, who hail from the same Los Angeles electronic scene as Nosaj. This situated us in the musical environment where Milosh and Hannibal began their collaboration, and provided a mechanical link to the jazzy show that would follow.
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