Cooked out
Video, 2023
About the artwork
“Rituals of 'Counter-Culture'
The depressing monotony of megatechnic society, with its standardized environment, its standardized foods, its standardized invitations to commercialized amusement, its standardized daily routines, produces a counter-drive in over-stimulation and over-excitement in order to achieve a simulation of life. Hence 'Speed' in all its forms, from drag races to drugs. With its narcotics and hallucinogens, its electrically amplified noise and stroboscopic lights and supersonic flights from nowhere to nowhere, modern technology has helped to create a counter-culture whose very disorder serves admirably to stabilize the power system.”
-Lewis Mumford
Sound by Frank Manzano
Audio explanation
Listen to Frank Manzano discuss this work.
Frank Manzano, based in Chicago, is an artist focusing on abstract and conceptual digital compositions, with formal training in film and photography from Columbia College. His work delves into the exploration of shared societal symbols and aims to unravel the individual connections people forge with these symbols.
Manzano embraces the idea that moments of revelation can arise from idleness and boredom, a belief he consistently incorporates into his creative process. His artistic ambition centers around deciphering the symbols that define our culture, using contemporary digital mediums to articulate these foundational emblems. Through his artwork, Frank Manzano seeks to inspire viewers to embark on introspective journeys, encouraging them to scrutinize their personal relationships with the symbols that shape their existence.