Mike Washes the Window
DETAILS
friday, oct 1, 2010. 8pm - 2am
Osborn Brown (Brett Osborn and Michael Brown)
Osborn Brown define their work as Situationalism, or recontextualizing the mundane in order to value the real. In our hyper real reality where everything has been elevated to the point of being “art” (Reality TV is an example) they focus upon calling attention to this false elevation of mundane events.
In Mike Washes a Window, the public comes across a window where a video projection of a man washing a window is displayed. Initially the window is so dirty it obscures the figure; but as the window is cleaned, it reveals the figure washing it. The “climax” occurs when the figure pulls out a squeegee and cleans the window to perfection.
There is no revealing scene, no life-altering paranormal event, no accidents—nothing that would make this event extraordinary. The audience is a participant who has been engaged for several minutes. The intention is to create a perceptual shift away from the elevation of mundane acts and towards the valuation, an honest evaluation, of the real.