Event Listing - Galleries
Fri May 23 - Sun Jun 22

Picket Fencing and Improvised Territory


Website

Location
Date and Time
Swarm Gallery
560 Second Street
Oakland, CA 94607
district: Oakland (Downtown)

Fri May 23 (6pm - 8pm) - opening reception
Sat May 24 (noon - 6pm )
Sun May 25 (noon - 6pm )
Tue May 27 (noon - 6pm )
Wed May 28 (noon - 6pm )

Description
"Picket Fencing"
An Installation by John Casey in the Project Space

May 23 - June 22, 2008

"Improvised Territory"
Artists Jeff Eisenberg and Chris Loomis will be showing in the main gallery.

Reception: Friday, May 23, 6-8PM

Hours: Tuesday-Sunday, 12-6PM and by appointment

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"A father of four young boys told me this story. His sons were out playing in their large backyard one afternoon. At one point, the father went out into the backyard and found his sons wildly battling each other with numerous wooden pickets torn from his pristine white-picket fence. The boys were literally fencing with pickets.

Aside from the obvious pun, for me, the story conjured images of an epic battle where the combatants splinter their environment to extract weapons to wield against each other. With total disregard for the iconic power of the white-picket fence (middle-class structure, suburban culture, ownership society, etc.), the manic adolescents destroy the fence with glee.

'Picket Fencing' is simply my attempt to capture the spirit of that manic scenario using a cast of characters I have developed over time. The implied politics or metaphors are left open-ended for the viewer to parse. Remember, it's always fun until someone looses an eye."