Various Records

Various Records utilizes a variety of approaches including video, trompe l’oeil painting, and sculpture to look at the physical and psychological relationships between war, trauma, suffering and everyday life.

View Press:
The New York Times
Hyperallergic
ARTnews
Cultured

View Exhibitions:
Solo presentation at the Armory Show 2020.
Various Records at PATRON.
Place/Image/Object at Jack Barrett.

Read More

The impetus for this project is a film my grandfather began making while serving as an army psychiatrist in World War II. After landing in Normandy in 1944, he traded a P38 pistol for a 16mm camera and subsequently documented the immediate aftermath of the war, his furloughs in Paris and Switzerland, and the post-war period after he returned home. Over the course of twenty-four minutes the aggressively fragmented film oscillates between the horrors he witnessed and the pleasures encountered in nature, culture, and daily life.

In 2011, I retraced my grandfather’s path through Europe using the film as a guide. The work I have been making in response looks at the physical and psychological relationships between war, trauma, suffering and everyday life through multiple records: the record of my grandfather’s experience by way of the film, the record of my own journey retracing his path through Europe using the film as my guide, as well as the familiar narrative of World War II constructed by institutions, books, and other media.

Document of a Travelogue by Lt. Col. Marvin R. Plesset, Division Neuropsychiatrist (2-minute clip)
2013
Video
24 minutes

Installation view of Travelogue (21st Century Room) at PATRON, 2019. Travelogue (21st Century Room) is a 36 square foot modular room with trompe l'oeil oil painting on all four walls inside.
Installation view of Travelogue (21st Century Room) and Document of a Travelogue by Lt. Col. Marvin R. Plesset, Division Neuropsychiatrist (in background) at PATRON, 2019.
Travelogue (21st Century Room)
Interior detail
2013-2018
Interior: Oil on panel. Exterior: Studs, bolts and screws.
92 x 80 x 80 inches
Travelogue (21st Century Room)
Interior detail
2013-2018
Interior: Oil on panel. Exterior: Studs, bolts and screws.
92 x 80 x 80 inches
Travelogue (21st Century Room)
Interior detail
2013-2018
Interior: Oil on panel. Exterior: Studs, bolts and screws.
92 x 80 x 80 inches
Travelogue (21st Century Room)
Interior detail
2013-2018
Interior: Oil on panel. Exterior: Studs, bolts and screws.
92 x 80 x 80 inches
Travelogue (21st Century Room)
Interior detail
2013-2018
Interior: Oil on panel. Exterior: Studs, bolts and screws.
92 x 80 x 80 inches
Travelogue (21st Century Room)
Interior detail
2013-2018
Interior: Oil on panel. Exterior: Studs, bolts and screws.
92 x 80 x 80 inches
Travelogue (21st Century Room)
Interior detail
2013-2018
Interior: Oil on panel. Exterior: Studs, bolts and screws.
92 x 80 x 80 inches
Travelogue (21st Century Room)
Interior detail
2013-2018
Interior: Oil on panel. Exterior: Studs, bolts and screws.
92 x 80 x 80 inches
Travelogue (21st Century Room)
Interior detail
2013-2018
Interior: Oil on panel. Exterior: Studs, bolts and screws.
92 x 80 x 80 inches
Travelogue (21st Century Room)
Interior detail
2013-2018
Interior: Oil on panel. Exterior: Studs, bolts and screws.
92 x 80 x 80 inches
Primary Sources
2015-2018
Oil on maple, oil on aluminum, oil on Pluma-Ply, and gouache on watercolor paper
34 x 44 x 20.5 inches overall
Primary Sources
2015-2018
Oil on maple, oil on aluminum, oil on Pluma-Ply, and gouache on watercolor paper
34 x 44 x 20.5 inches overall
Primary Source 1
Detail
2015
Gouache on folded watercolor paper
1 x 3.75 x 3.75 inches
Primary Source 1
Detail
2016
Oil on shaped maple
2.75 x 7.3125 x 7 inches
Primary Source 2
Detail
2016
Oil on shaped plywood
0.1875 x 5.75 x 8.125 inches
Primary Source 3
2016
Oil on shaped maple
0.5 x 4.25 x 6.75 inches
Primary Source 5
2017
Oil on shaped maple
1 x 4.125 x 7.5 inches
Obsolete Objects from the Golden Mile and the Golden Arrow
2018
Gouache on air-dry clay / containing 14 small objects

13 x 22 x 6 inches
Record 4 (Pamphlets and Photograph from the Kunstmuseum Bonn)
2019
Graphite on paper
13.75 x 18.5 inches
Framed: 15.625 x 20.375 inches
Detail of Record 4 (Pamphlets and Photograph from the Kunstmuseum Bonn)
2019
Graphite on paper
13.75 x 18.5 inches
Framed: 15.625 x 20.375 inches
Record 5 (Tickets from the Kunsthalle Fridericianum and Wilhelmshöhe Palace/Film Stills)
2019
Graphite on paper
16.75 x 23.75 inches
Framed: 18.625 x 25.625 inches
Detail of Record 5 (Tickets from the Kunsthalle Fridericianum and Wilhelmshöhe Palace/Film Stills)
2019
Graphite on paper
16.75 x 23.75 inches
Framed: 18.625 x 25.625 inches
The Pretense of Beauty: Mulberry Harbour, Arromanches (Golden Arrow)
2015
Oil on Dibond
9.5 x 14 inches

Document of a Travelogue by Lt. Col. Marvin R. Plesset, Division Neuropsychiatrist (2-minute clip)
2013
Video
24 minutes

Installation view of Travelogue (21st Century Room) at PATRON, 2019. Travelogue (21st Century Room) is a 36 square foot modular room with trompe l'oeil oil painting on all four walls inside.
Installation view of Travelogue (21st Century Room) and Document of a Travelogue by Lt. Col. Marvin R. Plesset, Division Neuropsychiatrist (in background) at PATRON, 2019.
Travelogue (21st Century Room)
Interior detail
2013-2018
Interior: Oil on panel. Exterior: Studs, bolts and screws.
92 x 80 x 80 inches
Travelogue (21st Century Room)
Interior detail
2013-2018
Interior: Oil on panel. Exterior: Studs, bolts and screws.
92 x 80 x 80 inches
Travelogue (21st Century Room)
Interior detail
2013-2018
Interior: Oil on panel. Exterior: Studs, bolts and screws.
92 x 80 x 80 inches
Travelogue (21st Century Room)
Interior detail
2013-2018
Interior: Oil on panel. Exterior: Studs, bolts and screws.
92 x 80 x 80 inches

Various Records

Various Records utilizes a variety of approaches including video, trompe l’oeil painting, and sculpture to look at the physical and psychological relationships between war, trauma, suffering and everyday life.

View Press:
The New York Times
Hyperallergic
ARTnews
Cultured

View Exhibitions:
Solo presentation at the Armory Show 2020.
Various Records at PATRON.
Place/Image/Object at Jack Barrett.

Read More

The impetus for this project is a film my grandfather began making while serving as an army psychiatrist in World War II. After landing in Normandy in 1944, he traded a P38 pistol for a 16mm camera and subsequently documented the immediate aftermath of the war, his furloughs in Paris and Switzerland, and the post-war period after he returned home. Over the course of twenty-four minutes the aggressively fragmented film oscillates between the horrors he witnessed and the pleasures encountered in nature, culture, and daily life.

In 2011, I retraced my grandfather’s path through Europe using the film as a guide. The work I have been making in response looks at the physical and psychological relationships between war, trauma, suffering and everyday life through multiple records: the record of my grandfather’s experience by way of the film, the record of my own journey retracing his path through Europe using the film as my guide, as well as the familiar narrative of World War II constructed by institutions, books, and other media.

Travelogue (21st Century Room)
Interior detail
2013-2018
Interior: Oil on panel. Exterior: Studs, bolts and screws.
92 x 80 x 80 inches
Travelogue (21st Century Room)
Interior detail
2013-2018
Interior: Oil on panel. Exterior: Studs, bolts and screws.
92 x 80 x 80 inches
Travelogue (21st Century Room)
Interior detail
2013-2018
Interior: Oil on panel. Exterior: Studs, bolts and screws.
92 x 80 x 80 inches
Travelogue (21st Century Room)
Interior detail
2013-2018
Interior: Oil on panel. Exterior: Studs, bolts and screws.
92 x 80 x 80 inches
Travelogue (21st Century Room)
Interior detail
2013-2018
Interior: Oil on panel. Exterior: Studs, bolts and screws.
92 x 80 x 80 inches
Travelogue (21st Century Room)
Interior detail
2013-2018
Interior: Oil on panel. Exterior: Studs, bolts and screws.
92 x 80 x 80 inches
Primary Sources
2015-2018
Oil on maple, oil on aluminum, oil on Pluma-Ply, and gouache on watercolor paper
34 x 44 x 20.5 inches overall
Primary Sources
2015-2018
Oil on maple, oil on aluminum, oil on Pluma-Ply, and gouache on watercolor paper
34 x 44 x 20.5 inches overall
Primary Source 1
Detail
2016
Oil on shaped maple
2.75 x 7.3125 x 7 inches
Primary Source 1
Detail
2015
Gouache on folded watercolor paper
1 x 3.75 x 3.75 inches
Primary Source 2
Detail
2016
Oil on shaped plywood
0.1875 x 5.75 x 8.125 inches
Primary Source 3
2016
Oil on shaped maple
0.5 x 4.25 x 6.75 inches
Primary Source 5
2017
Oil on shaped maple
1 x 4.125 x 7.5 inches
Obsolete Objects from the Golden Mile and the Golden Arrow
2018
Gouache on air-dry clay / containing 14 small objects

13 x 22 x 6 inches
Record 4 (Pamphlets and Photograph from the Kunstmuseum Bonn)
2019
Graphite on paper
13.75 x 18.5 inches
Framed: 15.625 x 20.375 inches
Detail of Record 4 (Pamphlets and Photograph from the Kunstmuseum Bonn)
2019
Graphite on paper
13.75 x 18.5 inches
Framed: 15.625 x 20.375 inches
Record 5 (Tickets from the Kunsthalle Fridericianum and Wilhelmshöhe Palace/Film Stills)
2019
Graphite on paper
16.75 x 23.75 inches
Framed: 18.625 x 25.625 inches
Detail of Record 5 (Tickets from the Kunsthalle Fridericianum and Wilhelmshöhe Palace/Film Stills)
2019
Graphite on paper
16.75 x 23.75 inches
Framed: 18.625 x 25.625 inches
The Pretense of Beauty: Mulberry Harbour, Arromanches (Golden Arrow)
2015
Oil on Dibond
9.5 x 14 inches