The name of artist Harmony Korine's latest collection, "Pigxote," sounds like a satirized version of Spanish writer Miguel Cervantes' "Don Quixote de la Mancha." The gallant knight's mind is controlled by illusion, but virtue and chivalry command his actions. Korine's creations, however, are not driven by any real notion or cohesive idea. The viewer is left with nothing more than a slight jolt or scratch of the head. Korine's aim as an artist, whether by film, literature or photography, seems to be to shock and thrill his audience.
Drugged up teenagers and drowning cats are Korine's specialty, but his "Pigxote" collection at the Fine Arts Gallery offers another side of him that no one has ever seen before. Assistant Art Curator Joseph Whitt describes the style as abstract and black metal nihilist, the result of collaborating with artists such as: Christopher Wool, Brian DeGraw, Gus Van Sant and Mark Gonzales.
Ever since he was a kid, Korine loved to experiment. While living in New York with his grandmother, he wrote the entire script of "Kids" in three weeks at age 22. Photographer Larry Clark had discovered him one day while ice skating with friends and urged Korine to write a documentary about the life of teenagers in the AIDS-era city. The project turned into his first film starring first-time actresses Rosario Dawson and Chloe Sevigny.
Korine has continued to display a gothic and hallucinatory sense of life with a series of films that did not prove to be as popular or successful: "Gummo," "Julien Donkey-Boy" and "Mister Lonely." Critics complained that "unsettling" and disturbing scenes turned people off from his art, but Korine disregarded their opinions.
The 49-photo exhibit at the Fine Arts Gallery is the result of a night of drug-induced hallucinogens at a hotel in Japan.
"I took these pictures in Japan a few years back," Korine said. "I was smoking speed during the day and eating lots of blowfish at night. I started wearing shower caps to keep my thoughts inside my head and wrapping myself in tinfoil to keep warm."
While watching television, he discovered a show displaying random images of women exercising, walking through nature or sitting alone.
"I kept falling in love with the girls on screen," Korine said. "All the characters on the television were like ghosts. It was a great choir of ghosts. I started photographing the screen. I drank a glass of Clorox toward the end of the night. It was terrific."
Viewers can take this experiential project one of two ways. Only one way of knowing which road to take would be by visiting the Fine Arts Gallery before "Pigxote" ends on Feb. 25. The event is free and open to the public.