Okay, We Get It.

Went to the Okay Mountain staff show at the CRL on Saturday night. I don't have any pictures to prove it, but it was very packed with many of the kiddies. Going there makes me feel way old now, especially when school is in session. Maybe the beeramid (pyramid made of flattened beer cans) brought them out. I liked some of the drawings on the wall. For the most part these seemed to be executed anonymously according to various exercises explained by a brief wall text. I was especially drawn to the obvious Ryan Hennessees and Sterling Allens. They were witty and pretty intelligent in context of the beeramid. Hennessee's work has always reminded me of Raymond Pettibon, but with more tragicomic irony. There was also a picnic table on a slightly raised, white dais. I suppose this meant it was an installation in progress, much like the picnic tables in Okay Mountain's backyard that are covered in trash by the end of the night. This was also being gradually covered in trash. Adjacent to the picnic table was a video projection showing the Okay team inserted into a locker room clip from Hoosiers and them in the opening credits of the Brady Bunch. For the most part these elements made the show feel like an exercise in branding. "Look how much beer we drink! Come hang out and be cool with us!" Okay! I get the punkish point of view in what they're doing. I can even appreciate it, but what I'm missing is a sense of self-deprecation that offsets the self-congratulation. Without this there's no feeling of substance, it's just a lifestyle ad and I'm getting a little old to wear it well. Maybe that's my fault.

*UPDATE* More thoughts on this here.