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Basic/Basic, 2020

Digital video (25:56)


“Kevin Dudley's Basic/Basic, 2020 is narrated with a reading from L. Ron Hubbard's Dianetics (Prenatal Experience and Birth) and layered with Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville refrain.  The recorded chapter describes the inevitability of inheriting and being burdened by aberrations/traumas outside of our control and a collective rejoicing in the salvation of dianetic therapy.  Dudley's video documents his virtual construction of a Kinkade-inspired cottage rendered in digital space ad infinitum.  The walls of the cottage are built with stock materials and shelter a fully adorned snowman.  As the video takes course we watch Dudley's face zone into the monotony of process.  The tonal dissonance of voiceover, text, and image speaks to the make-believe nature of this purported science and calls our attention to a common desire for healing and escaping the static and immovable.”
-Jaqueline Cedar

https://www.goodnakedgallery.com/margaritaville