Brian M. John is interested in the ways that our relationship to the world is mediated by technology and technical media. Believing that technology must be understood not only as a tool, but as a material, he investigates mediation through photography, video, sound, music and software. Engaging critically with contemporary apparatuses, both technical and systemic, the artist demonstrates their malleability as mediums of aesthetic expression. As an artist and a technologist, John manipulates sound, light, color and space in order to subvert the intended uses of mediating technologies. Selected group exhibitions include: Mercury, The LeRoy Neiman Center Gallery, SAIC, Chicago, Illinois, 2015; Surface Area, Studio 109, Brooklyn, New York, 2014 and New Constructions, Pump Project’s Flex Space, Austin, Texas, 2014.
Glitches, May to November, 2015, digital image.
Corner (from the series Adult Webcams in 3D), 2015, inkjet print, 30 by 40 inches.
The Vital Light (detail view), 2015, fluorescent light bulbs, cedar, wires, electronics and hardware, dimensions variable.
Broken Household Appliance National Forest (installation view from the exhibition Mercury, with Linda Tegg), 2015, analog and digital monitors, VHS players, video cassettes, media players and computers, dimensions variable.
Adam Bach and Ellery Royston performing during Abuse of Vegetational Concepts (curated by Brian M. John, installation view from the exhibition Mercury, with Linda Tegg), 2015, musical performance generated from time-lapse photographs, 25 minutes.
