JOHN  O'BRIEN




The Realism of the Subconscious






     The child is in the box. The simulacrum dances before him.

     How can I remember this if it never happened to me?
   In a culture betrayed by simulations, the citizen is
   confused by artificial representations of reality.


There are probably too many artists now. I was born in 1950 and just about everyone in my generation seems to be some kind of artist. I feel that it may be too late for art-for-art's sake or for art without a specific purpose. I don't know. By 2000, the surreal and transcendental experience of modern TV viewing has produced millions of hallucinogenic experiences for everyone within reach. The average adult will have seen over two million commercials by age 65. 


    
      The Television arranges Marriage for the Child

The most effective of these are surrealistic soundings of a product's potential within the viewer's subconscious mind. No contract is required. Just tuning-in grants the license to probe. The surreal is in fact a "realism" of the subconscious and not the stuff of fairy tales or pure fantasy. Breton defined it as "pure psychic automatism." Ironically, for art fans, the value to advertisers of such automatism has grown beyond calculation. 


    
       The child meets The Neuromancer

In my piece, The Citizen, culture is betrayed by simulation and television evolves into a vicious privacy-invading device. The citizen (himself) is confused by artificial representations of reality. The piece is about media manipulation, its effects and a possible strategy of self-defense."

John O'Brien's Handmade Video
2176 Powers Ave
Saint Paul MN 55119
Website:  http://johnobrienvideo.com