"Dickture" Gallery and the search for Creative Content

In today's media saturated world, the search for creative content is getting tougher and tougher. I have found it increasingly difficult to come up with a concept that hasn't been covered already in one form or another. Each time I find myself sitting down to write, I always end up shaking my head when my script inevitably runs up against a formulaic plotline or a story arc that has already been explored.

When I was shown the post on f-stoppers covering the gallery I was instantly struck by how the artist chose such a simple topic and skewed it into a daring and hilarious concept. She took "dick pics" and spun it into an entire gallery of elaborately dressed penises. She has encouraged people, through this gallery, to remember not to take art and themselves too seriously.

The content is, of course not safe for work, so I wont include any pictures here. I'll link the video below, and the gallery. I highly recommend giving it a look and reminding yourself not to always take yourself too seriously.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XRnZ0wGGm4
http://www.dicturegallery.com/the-work/#prettyPhoto

Marwencol

     Last week, I attended a showing of the film Marwencol (2010), directed by Jeff Malmberg, at the Ithaca College Handwerker Gallery. The documentary follows Mark Hoganhamp, a victim of a brutal assault that left him with severe brain trauma. Mark had to start from scratch. He lost all of his memory when a group of teenagers viciously attacked him outside of a bar. Hogancamp recovered after a limited period of rehabilitation and returned home. He was having trouble going back to his life because he barely knew who he was. He created a fictional town called Marwencol, in his backyard, and used military dolls to represent the characters that he created. The town was like therapy to him. One doll represents himself, one his dream wife, and many other dolls represent his friends in real life. Hogancamp started to capture stills of Marwencol town life with his cameras and keep the hundreds of developed pictures in boxes. A photographer asks what he was doing one day when he was dragging a toy jeep along the side of the road. Hogancamp told him that he takes pictures and the people are real to him. The photographer was interested in the idea and kept in touch with Hogancamp. Many aspects of Mark's life are highlighted but the photographer he meets convinces him to have a showing of his work at a NYC art gallery. Hogancamp summons the courage to make the trip to his own show but he isn't sure how to be social with many people when he arrives at the exhibition.

http://www.marwencol.com/   
(^^^CHECK OUT THE TRAILER AND LEARN ABOUT THE MOVIE ABOVE.)

I thought that the documentary was missing a few parts that the audience would've liked to see. I would've liked to hear about his ex-wife that he cannot remember and only sees in past wedding videos. I would also like to know what happened to the teenagers and if he has any family and their reactions to his fictional world. I don't think the documentary was trying to milk Hogancamp's story by any means but the photographer in the film seemed to take advantage of Mark. The photographer thought that his pictures were interesting so he blew them up onto large canvas and organized re-prints on the gallery's walls with Hogancamp's knowledge of how his work was composed. No one can understand Mark's world and the photographer seems to make it seem like Mark isn't normal and his world is just a spectacle to others, not his life. I recommend you watch this unlikely story because it is truly amazing and unique in so many ways.