Sam Wilson's Summer Tapes
One of the three artists in this month's Slam Dunk Show is American artist Sam Wilson. His Summer Tapes (2007) consists of 28 papier mache cassettes tapes made out of gouache, colored pencil, graphite, ink and marker. Summer Tapes came together through his interest in the personalization of objects. Cassette tapes during Sam's teenage years were standard mass-produced products that were specifically made to be personalized through recording. Further personalization came in the form of labelling (handwriting, drawing, titling) and gifting of the tapes to other people. In his studio practice he draws a lot and considers the time spent drawing as a means of personalization. These tapes are not mass-produced, but entirely customized in their fabrication - they are one of a kind sculptural drawings. The piece as a whole is meant not just to represent his interests as a teenager or adolescence in general, but also to lend a certain weight and importance to the objects which were central to the cultural moment, and have since become obsolete.
For more info on Sam and his Summer Tapes, please email us at info@space15twenty.com