Gallery 4:
TALK HEAVY TO ME


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Two room installation, 34" x 13"
Barnsdall Municipal Art Gallery, Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles, January - April 2008.

Talk Heavy To Me portrays a crazy, overblown Victorian-style therapy center.  I use the history of psychiatry to trigger contemplation about the way that we deal with contemporary issues at this time of radical change, a time when everything is up for grabs, a time when the glory of tradition often wanes.  I want to spark the delight of hearing truths and secrets blurted out in therapy sessions.  By employing bombastic hyperbole, overblown aphorisms, true quotes from philosophers, and a fairy tale narrative, I aim to show how knowledge can improve our quality of life.  I want to catalyze investigation of our uniquely progressive nature and describe how we enunciate and deal with psychological issues.  How do we keep our lives sacred and meaningful in this over-stimulated-corporate-it's-chipped-so-trash-it screen-dominated-bottom-line-overquantified climate?

Text excerpts:

“WELCOME TO THE TALK HEAVY TO ME PSYCHOLOGICAL THERAPY CENTER OF LOS ANGELES !

Become an electric, eccentric, whiz-bang soul!

• BUST OUT YOUR BEST SELF!
  Lose the self-imposed solitary confinement that currently defines your thunderously repetitious and inbred existence!

• CONNECT WITH OTHERS!
  Join in the parade of true spirits throughout modern history who have bravely analyzed their thought patterns so that you can develop a righteous belief system brimming with airtight commitment.

• FREE YOUR MIND!
  Stop hypercerebrating!  Lose your preoccupation with overquantified,  technologically-based factoids and mind-numbing corporate influences!”

“DOMINATING NEUROSES IN THE
SAN FERNANDO VALLEY

Woodland Hills: Westfield Mall Cy-clothymic Disorder
Canoga Park : Follow Your Heart Earth-Guilt-Schizo Syndrome
West Hills: Canoga Park-West Hills Ping-Pong Identity Disorder
Reseda: Tom Petty’s Bad Girl Syndrome
Northridge: CSUN Sorority Electronic Separation Anxiety Disorder
Van Nuys: Left Turn on Victory Acute Stress Syndrome
Sherman Oaks: Empty Galleria Without Tower Records Panic Disorder
Sylmar: North-South Horsepath Delirium Syndrome
San Fernando : Warm Breeze Sedative Dependence Disorder
Encino: Checkwriter’s Handcramp Syndrome
North Hollywood: 60 Seat Theatre Tailbone Trance Disorder
Studio City: Fax-me-my-sides-NOW!! Audition Anxiety Syndrome
Chatsworth: Gated Community Safety Hallucinogenic Disorder
Sun Valley : Faux Idaho Disorientation Syndrome”