Chad Stayrooks show at Ping Pong gallery mixes fantasy with mild psychosis via the scientific method…

I think the best part of the show was not the images on the wall, nor the giant whale – Chad’s impromptu performance WITH the whale on the other hand, and his documentation via polaroid of the visitors was the most dynamic aspect.
The performance was as follows:
Chad crawls into the mouth of the whale, then proceeds to eject roses through the blowhole…minutes later he emerges through the blowhole changed into his bunny costume (a persona he dons for many of his works) and a t-shirt bearing his artistic equation.
Weird is a word I hear spoken about Chad’s work….weird it is, with a logic system in place.
I have to say I have a tendency to like work that is cryptic, and weird, and misconstrued.
Maybe this is due to my fondness of mystery – the unknown realm. When an artwork instantly hits me over the head, I may initially be impressed, but it leaves no questions behind. Though I haven’t made full sense of Chad’s fantasy whale/horse/pidgeon imagery, I still see that he has his own artistic logic. Essentially, he lives in a world of wonderment, creatures and mythology, humans and logic – depending on your taste, this could be extremely pleasant or extremely excrutiating.

The Stayrook Equation: governing overall artistic value

(VA + m) / i = PV
thus
(((PV2) Im) Ic) / X = OV

where:

VA = valid argument

m = medium

i = artist’s intention

PV = proposed artistic value

Im = intensity of the communication/concept as derived from the medium

Ic = intensity of the meaning as derived from the communication/concept

X = audience expectation

OV = overall artistic value

The valid argument plus the medium used, divided by the intention of the artist equals the proposed artistic value of the work. Thus, the proposed artistic value squared and multiplied by the intensity of the communication/concept as derived from the medium, multiplied by the intensity of the meaning as derived from the communication/concept, all divided by the audience expectation equals the overall artistic value of the work.