Brian Wesley Heiss
Houston, TX
Artist's Website
Artist's Statement:
My work is an attack on the roles consumer products typically take in the hands of their users. Often working to confront a user with his or her habits and assumptions, I want to stop people from taking things for granted.
Transvision, my ongoing project, is focused on the psycho-social role the television has in daily life. Television is important because of its central position in western culture and because of the complete absence of evolution it has undergone since its rise in popularity over half a century ago.
All the Transvision TVs are fully functional appliances made in the aesthetic of industrial design objects and designed to be completely normal in a slightly different and more self aware reality. It is crucial to me that the TVs receive a live broadcast signal rather than artist generated material from a DVD or VCR. It is this “reality” that forces the work to sit uncomfortably between fine art and design. My intention is to play off notions of what is acceptable to have in one’s living room. Fundamentally the televisions are not made to look like a commentary, they function as a commentary. From 3D computer models to hand carved details, I work at whichever scale and with whatever materials, methods, and technologies are necessary to make the work effective.
While “pretty” things are more accessible than ever, I am interested in creating consumer goods that are smarter, more playful, and most importantly, demanding of their users.
Artist's Bio:
Brian Wesley Heiss has worked as a farm hand, an auto body technician, a custom guitar builder, a freelance computer animator, a video editor, a fashion model, and an architect. He is currently teaching architecture/design at Rice University in Houston Texas. He holds a B.A. in ceramics and architecture from Bennington College (1996) and an M.ARCH from Rice University (2000). Heiss’ work has been shown in the Menil Collection Museum, and the Lawndale Art Center. He was born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin in 1974.
