Bozkov and postmoderism

In considering how to approach a discussion on Bozhkov's presentation, it occurred to me how stunningly complex his works are. Each individual piece includes a number of different elements and threads that connect and work together in various ways. In this way his work relates strongly to some of the ideas discussed in regards to postmodernism - many different concepts and mediums are employed by Bozhkov in the spectrum of art he presented, as well as in each individual work. The Wal-Mart greeter was very much conceptual and performative while also including video and the traditional medium of fresco. The Turkish pretzel piece included performance, video, and a local traditional craft into which the artist injected his own sculpture, related to the earlier work with his mother's language. "Learning to Fly over Very Large Larry" used crop circle as a medium to show Larry's face, had a strong performance aspect, and was followed by an installation detailing not only the art itself, but the media's response, details on the actual plants involved in creating the face, and custom-designed furniture. Each of these elements reenforces the others, resulting in expansive works that often take on lives of their own (as with the media response to 'Very Large Larry') or lend themselves well to expansion in the future (as was done with the creation of large amounts of yogurt after the initial gene-lab experiment, or continued selling and marketing of the Ernest Hemingway cologne). Bozhkov embraces and includes any concept, medium, or style that will enhance his current pursuit, and in doing so creates works that very much fall under the umbrella of "post-modern."

One of the common threads in all of the pieces he presented was that each included a performance aspect that was either separate from or resulted in the final product (reminding me of Mark Dion's installations). He as the artist was actively engaged, with the demonstration of the process being part of the work. When the process was complete there remained some sort of product, which was either a work of art in a traditional sense (painting, sculpture), a marketable product (cologne, pretzels), or photographic and video evidence, provided by the artist and/or the media. In some works, the performance itself lives on, such as with the continued production the new pretzel designs by a single baker in Turkey.