Break Bones 2017

Curator: This is Jason Limon's "Break Bones" from 2017, an acrylic painting. What grabs you about it? Editor: I'm struck by its odd, whimsical nature. The skeleton sitting in what looks like a Victorian-era machine with "Sticks and Stones" printed on the front, while holding…well, sticks and stones. The materiality is compelling; how does process influence the artwork's reception, especially in a fantasy scene? Curator: It is all about material production! Note the deliberate inclusion of the "machine" aesthetic. It's almost as if Limon is satirizing the very idea of art production. Mass production techniques often blur the lines between art and craft. Look at the surface texture, the calculated blending and layering of acrylics - each decision contributes to our understanding of its place in a broader economy of images and making. Editor: So, are you saying Limon is commenting on how art is essentially a machine? And, furthermore, a sort of macabre one? Curator: Precisely! The skeleton and its tools are essentially components in this contraption of creation. Is this work about the literal building blocks or creative action of "Sticks and Stones"? Note also the Victorian detailing; mass production's golden era! And those lace-like elements – Flow more hurt up. What do you make of their craft production relation to what might be 'Fine art'? Editor: I did not notice that, so "flow more hurt up", compared to, "Break Bones"? Craft becomes weaponry when its output is controlled for violence? Also, are you talking about how he democratizes the visual plane by incorporating the Victorian and lace-like aesthetic? I love that. Thanks! Curator: Exactly. This really illustrates that the method is inextricably intertwined with meaning.