43. David Hevel

David Hevel embellishes his figures because he is emphasizing self-indulgent attitudes that come through in his kitschy, but horrifying animal sculptures. Hevel is focusing on animalistic behaviors of humans and how that reflects in our cultural aesthetics. These pieces are monstorous, but laughable, which makes them memorable.

42. Packard Jennings

Terrorist Alert sign in Downtown Oakland. 2003.

"2nd Labor of Dick Cheney" 2004

"Ronald's Shoes on East Oakland telephone line" 2003

Packard Jennings works with popular images or well-known concepts and reappropriates them with a sarcastic, but dark humored twist. "2nd Labor of Dick Cheney" makes a reference to antiquity while making a jab at the ex-VP. Likewise, Jennings distaste for American policy shows through in his "Terrorist Alert Sign," which points out the absurdity in color coordinating terrorist threat level. "Ronald's Shoes" are strung over a telephone wire in front of a McDonald's; the shoes hung like that has vary connotations, but particularly drug or gang related (someone has died). His work is comical without being unsettling, which can be hard to grapple when make political or societal remarks.

41. Zhan Wang

Although I would not particularly be fond of seeing these sculptures on a daily basis, I appreciate their existence integrated into public spaces. The texture and sheen of the figures are unnatural and alien, but have an attractive quality to them that dominates the simplicity of the forms. I like how they appear to be artifacts from some other realm.

40. KATYA BONNENFANT

Motif Fleuri a projected image of a small creature climbing its way across the flowers and plants of botanical wallpaper installed on the gallery walls. Bulges grow on him, he blows on them and they transform into seeds that fly to fertilize other corners of the wallpaper.

Love in the Box from Vintage Packaging for Animation, 2009
Sanyo calculator, animation, iPod

Bonnenfant works with animation and integrating it into varying spaces. I am fond of her recycled us of Sanyo calculators by updating them with cutesy animations of creatures. This is an ironic way of dealing with advances of technology. Motifi Fleuri is playful way of dealing with environment and allows the viewer to take part in a simple narrative.

39. Martin Durazo

"How to Feng Shui at Home"

"Bigger than 2"

Using found objects and tools, Durazo creates installations that collage technology with sound and sense. "How to Feng Shui at Home" is comical to me because the normal association with feng shui is not neon lights and a disco ball. Is this a commentary on social behavior? Likewise, the word "Pain" shown in white neon may perhaps be a comment on heroin or coke for it seems vibrant, but in reflection in reveals the "pain". I wish I could find a detail of "Bigger than 2," but I like the ambiguity of the figures and the light emitting and reflecting around them.

38. Jim Campbell

"Hallucination"

"Void"

"Solstice"

Dimensions Variable. Candle, video camera, custom electronics. Commissioned by Creative Time, New York, for the exhibition Art in the Anchorage. A candle suspended eight feet is monitored by an electronic system to measure the minor fluctuations of the candle’s flame. Using this measurement, the sound of an extremely loud wind storm is generated and modulated by the movement of the flame.

Jim Campbell creates interactive installations pieces that forces the viewer to become part of the work. "Hallucination" inserts the viewer into the situation of seeing him/herself on fire, an anxiety inducing possibility. Likewise, "Void" hints at the underlying emptiness of camera and television as medium, where the viewer becomes the filler. I overall appreciate Campbell's ability to turn these objects and concepts in to interactive meditative processes.

37. Yoram Wolberger

"Coffee Table"

Yoram Wolberger replicates the small toys of army men and Indigenous people into large scale figurines. Bringing them to life size scale forces the viewer to re-think their associations with toy, and perhaps reconsider the way America has commodified military and history. "Coffee Table" is also a play on old ideas of how the coffee table functions in social life.