Brandon C Smith: Smith Townsend Collaborative at Artfields 2018

Smith Townsend Collaborative

Artfields SC

I am pleased to report that Travis Townsend and I (Brandon C. Smith) won a Merit award at this years Artfields. Artfields is an art competition and festival located in Lake City SC. We were honored to be part of the 400+ artists to exhibit throughout the city as part of the city wide exhibition. Our work was installed in the R.O.B. building which is a large warehouse building divided into exhibition spaces.

"View of the Big Nothing from an Abandoned Perch Atop Pink Meat Pod Island (With Godbird Watching)"
Photo: Travis Townsed

From our statement:

Now in our tenth year of engaging in collaborative projects, SmithTownsendCollaborative presents view of the big nothing from an abandoned perch atop pink meat pod island (with Godbird watching). As we've done before, we've overlapped our visual languages to try to create something that neither one of us would make on our own. And this work picks up on some of the narratives our past projects have suggested while attempting to thoughtfully explore the theme of emptiness.

"View of the Big Nothing from an Abandoned Perch Atop Pink Meat Pod Island (With Godbird Watching)"
Photo: Travis Townsed

From our statement:

The wall-drawn component connects via a long hinged wooden "chain" to a rather largish, pinkish, meaty-looking pod of Brandon's creation. On top of the pod is a lonely little remnant of a brick house with an empty chair in it. The chair views the big empty blob on the wall as Godbird (the strange-looking painted bird sculpture) watches from his high perch on the wall. There are some other components, too, that adds to the narrative possibilities. So, not love of emptiness or fear of emptiness so much as just normal, kind of dumb, and lonely-human-on-a-rock-in-a-big-void kind of emptiness.

"View of the Big Nothing from an Abandoned Perch Atop Pink Meat Pod Island (With Godbird Watching)"
Photo: Travis Townsed