Artist Lecture Series: Leo Castaneda

Friday, October 17

4:30pm

Leo work is an effort to turn the structures of video gaming into a lens for analyzing the world.  “Levels”, “Bosses”, “Items”, “Continues”, “Extra Lives”, and much more are the words that dominate the world of virtual entertainment.  These labeling systems delineate and provide hierarchies reminiscent of both ancient mythologies and corporate structures, while hi-lighting the arbitrariness of their boundaries and naming.  The work was initially an effort in gaining image freedom in painting through a notion of “worlds without justification” (Nick Kelman “VideoGame Art” 2006 pg 143), where he can make random images reconciling abstraction vs representation fit within an imposed hierarchy, rather than seeming like confused paintings without an aim.  The images would be conceived on the day and would fill the slot they would be assigned (i.e. “Level One”, “Level Two”, “Level Three”).  Future paintings were to rationalize the gaps between the painted worlds and serve as subsections or mapping (i.e. “Level One-One”, “Level One-Two”, etc.)

To learn more about Leo Castaneda click, here.