Each year SAM revolves another artist through the PACCAR Pavilion at the Olympic Sculpture Park. The second artist to get the nod is California-based graphic designer Geoff McFetridge. Flaunting his connections to the Beastie Boys and Nike, SAM seems to be reaching out to a youthful demographic. However, as noted over at Redefine SAM does little to discuss the piece itself. Instead of presenting the piece as an artistic endeavor they list off the big company names, perhaps hoping to reel in the teenagers who snap up artsy skateboards and sneakers.
Overall the installation seems excessively world-weary, rather like the animated character in McFetridge's video presentations. Imprisoned by his body, the anonymous office worker is hauled around by his own head and at the mercy of his physical environment. Various posters urge the viewer to 'see a psychiatrist', and note that 'the saddest square is a circle'. The profusion of anonymous characters on the pavilion's west wall seem to speak about equalizing influence of the postmodern age on identity, traded like a commodity and simultaneously minimized by 'glocal' culture.
On the other hand, it's a slick piece of graphic design and repays the time spent in close contemplation; more than can be said for a lot of the work in the Sculpture Park. The profusion of signs with absurd twists seem to break down the markers of mass communication, while the three video pieces are interesting pieces that explore the relationship between man and space.
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