Tyson Jacques
The Imperative Series Self Portrait, 2010
60" X 72" X 2.5", Oil & graphite on canvas. $1,500.00
I study different peoples' handwriting samples in search of a “relative sameness” among them. This sameness is simultaneously reflected in the variation and consistency of each hand-written word or phrase. I find that as one’s temperament and appearance varies from day to day, so do one’s thoughts and actions. Since handwriting is in essence a trace of one’s thoughts through action, it gives us a visual record of a person’s state of mind as he wrote.
The Imperative Series
The Imperative Series is a series of paintings and prints based on a collaborative handwriting experiment in which participants wrote the second formulation of Kant’s Categorical Imperative once a day for ten days. This re-presenting of participants’ re-presenting of Kant’s original concept questions the chain of authorship and who actually has the right to claim these designs as their own. I resolve this issue by sharing the experience of mark-making with my subjects, combining my brushwork with the record of the scribe’s motion.
“Act as if the maxim of your action were to become by your will a universal law of nature” -Immanuel Kant
The Seven Words Series
In my latest body of work, I examine the growing acceptance of vulgarity as expressed in our actions and our language in popular American culture. Being someone who doesn’t swear naturally, I find the language of George Carlin’s Seven Words You Can’t Say on Television to be more than a little jarring. My work with these words is an exercise in stepping out of my comfort zone and experiencing the world differently by doing something as simple and cathartic as cursing.
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