Moderation is in decline, and as it diminishes, our desires are manipulated. These desires are intimately linked to people who do not physically exist beyond the surface of their pictures. Within these pictures, they transcend their humanity and permanently install themselves in our minds. They are the new gods. Our streets, screens and pages are their altars. My goal is to analyze this new mythology and evaluate the images that support it. I am entertained and disturbed by our addiction to these surfaces and the relevance we continually find within them. The stories that emerge from the portrayal of these synthetic individuals fuel my work and allow me to question the synthesis of my own identity. I don’t reject the validity of popular culture, but I am not resigned to passive acceptance. I keep watching to see what happens next, waiting for opportunities to respond to, transform, and re-transmit the messages we are receiving.

Bio

Jennifer Jacobs grew up drawing long hair and makeup on all of the male super heroes in her x-men comic books and waiting for her mutant powers to manifest. This childhood fixation translated into an interest in illustration and eventually art. She received her BFA in her native state at the University of Oregon in 2007, gradating with honors. She is currently working towards an MFA at Hunter College in New York where she has been awarded the Graduate Academic Fellowship for the duration of the program. She is an adjunct professor for the Film and Media department at Hunter and in addition, works with Dr. Mary Flanagan and her Dartmouth based social values game lab, Tiltfactor. Jennifer works in a wide variety of mediums and techniques, including physical computing and programming, performance, animation and illustration. Her work has recently been screened at Pace University in New York, Art Basel Miami, The University of Southern California and Tractor Gallery in Portland Oregon. She lives and works in Brooklyn, New York and is always online. Always.