Seattle artists, Eric Thompson, Aubrey Birdwell and Stefan Moore aim to explore the illusion of happiness and the reality of misery through their personal, American experience. The artists will be presenting new site specific, multi-media installations for this exhibition. 

More from the artists below.

We are discontinuous beings in search of a simulation of continuity to subdue our fear of separation. The American home provides protection through encapsulation. In travel and as a form of rogue property we often carry with us a semblance of the familiar den. The box with a locked door full of comforts for us alone. We carry this capsule to contain our individual and separate existences even amidst so many others. Safety and freedom in equally moderate amounts. We reject and embrace that we are free-floating and disconnected from everything around us. We are exclusively what everything else is not. We are all discretely concrete and temporary, and it bothers the hell out of us, doesn't it?

In space and temporal media, these pieces attempt to re-stage our memories of what American life has been through our eyes. Through cultural quotation we attempt to pry open the locked box and articulate the immense void of American culture.

- Eric Thompson and Aubrey Birdwell 

"I recorded this dude at a party. I really like that he was giving some guy a hard time for being a dick. I think it is an important social detail to think about. An echo of a moment. Repeating. Stolen audio from a man reprimanding rudeness and snobbery at a party. Newer audio overlain from around the current space. A temporal reframing of the past out of context. An audio-temporal prototype juxtaposed and mismatched."

In the spirit of social eavesdropping there are a few bugs around this gallery complex. What is said will be replayed on the street soon. The audio is always a past moment. A replaying of something gone."

-Eric Thompson

A huge part of my thought process as an artist revolves around other people’s definition of themselves and the world around them.  The ongoing theme to my current body of work is re-appropriating popular definitions of happiness. I asked Yahoo! Answers for the key to becoming successful. Here is my favorite reply by user "dagmar".

I think you need talent but you also need drive and determination. Set your mind to what you are trying to accomplish and keep at it.  Of course a lot of it depends on what you are trying to be successful in. If it is an artistic pursuit that can be a lot more difficult to succeed in than say, being a Dr. or an accountant.  No matter what your goal, do the best you can and do it with joy and love. Make the best of whatever success you find and don't be discouraged. If you try to enjoy life and not get too caught up in 'success' you can be very happy and satisfied.

- Stefan Moore