Ain Cocke

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ART . RedBox Studio .cn – Do a Book: Group exhibition and installation at White Space, Beijing

[...] Bell, Lukas Birk,章森 George Chang, 张能杰 Rutherford Chang, 陳龍斌 Chen Longbin, Ain Cocke, 郭鸿蔚 Guo Hongwei, 洪浩 Hong Hao, 黄敏  Huang Min, Ravikumar Kashi, 孔国桥 Kong [...]

, in Art, Installation (1 Comments)

Ain Cocke trained in painting and printmaking and received his MFA from Yale University in 2004. He currently lives and works in Beijing. He is recognized for his bright, sensual oil paintings depicting hyper-real portraits of historical narratives. History is often a theme explored in his works; the concept that history is just a story, not fact possibly even fiction, is evident in his paintings. His works are exhibited between the US and China and are held in collections including the 21C Museum (USA) and The John Morrissey Collection (USA).

Penetrating War Stories (2012)
穿 越 战 争 史

Book, Brass .45 Caliber Shell Casing, Rock Sugar, Death Valley Salt,

Synthetic Fur from Children’s toy, Ink, Glitter. Size variable.
Approximately 25 x 25 x 38 cm / 10 x 10 x 15 in
Unique

Instrument of penetration: M3A1.45-caliber sub-machine gun commonly know as the “Greaser” Blowback, Open Bolt, 450 rounds/min cycle with 30-round detachable box magazine

“Penetrating War Stories” is a book object with cathartic sentiments, both personal and historical. The original publication, “The Sexual History of the World War (WW1)” was published in 1930 by sexual rights activist Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, who developed a theory of a third sex and was interested in the study of sexual and erotic urges, at a time when the early labels of sexual identity were still being formed. The book is penetrated by a M3A1 .45-caliber sub-machine gun commonly known from WW2 as the “Greaser.” The resulting object is complete with additions of painting, glitter, and fur that allude to the artists’ typically humorous and subversive contemplations on history and personal narratives.

Artist Statement: I was just responding to the title of your show “Do a Book” It was either kill it or fuck it… I chose this book because it is a thing I have drawn inspiration from in the past and I feel the need to depart slowly (cautiously) from this subject matter. Assassinating the text I thought would help me. I also like the idea that someone might have been reading this in the trenches of WW2 when it was suddenly penetrated.