As I contemplate the conclusion of this 25 year project, questions about how to bring this grand adventure to a close are foremost in my mind.
Will Marc meet his end? How? When?
Since there was no birthday or set day of conception, I am a bit confused about when this whole thing got started and when it should conclude. The installation Stares Stairs was exhibited at Intersection for the Arts in San Francisco, September 29 - October 21, 1995. I began my research into the annuals of art history looking for other “great stair moments” in 1995. I considered Nude Descending the Staircase and discovered Rrose Selavy in 1995.
In 1996 the first video was completed. I have always considered that to be the beginning. I made a commitment to paint/draw four portraits each year plus produce a short video each year for 25 years. Counting up to 25 makes 2021 the final year. Early on I bought 25 note books and dated each one with 2021 being the last.
That makes this year, 2020 the penultimate.
This longitudinal alter-self-portrait series began in 1996 and will conclude in 2021. Each year I will create four 22" x 30" paintings. Upon completion there will be 100 chronological images.
Beyond the creation of the paintings, I am developing Marc's character through fabricated stories and found art-i-facts (readymades) that he is naming as ART. His astute skills as a cunning strategist and sensitive renderer of line and form will be played out in his expertise as a champion of tic-tac-toe (ala Duchamp's chess game) and as trickster par excellence.
His antics and his artistry will be video taped and edited into a series of short vignettes that will ultimately become a recorded (100+ minutes) document of his enactments.
