Daniel Davidson: Going Forward
Unframed acrylic on cotton shirting mounted on canvas (10” x 10”, 2022)
Unframed acrylic on cotton shirting mounted on canvas (10” x 10”, 2022)
Unframed acrylic on cotton shirting mounted on canvas (10” x 10”, 2022)
These are paintings on grid patterned material cut out of my office shirts that had a windowpane grid pattern on them. I had previously made ‘grid’ drawings and digital images on printed grids and photographs of people wearing windowpane grid clothing. Having being laid off during the pandemic, I cut up my office shirts and then bought more shirts in thrift stores. I mounted the pieces of grid fabric on canvases that are sized to the back, front panels and sleeves of the shirts.
The phrases and jargon are from my experience in my office day job as a graphic designer. Now being "OUT OF OFFICE" is a meditation on our communication and motivations at work and how it seeps into our everyday interactions with others.
Floating, removed from context, these familiar and hackneyed phrases can feel empty, corny and often manipulative. Other times they can seem like seasoned and simple advice, like a profound message on a fortune cookie.