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| Jim Burton |
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An interest in cultural idioms informs my work. Specifically, the dialects and other cultural signals of the Rural South are my primary rhetoric. I use cues from this rural culture that I am intensely familiar with, juxtaposed with cues from other cultures with which I am not as nearly embroiled. I discover in working with these other sub-sects, that the cues--language, perception of time, perception of values--often have cross cultural parallels.
I attempt to invite the viewer into this Southern sub-culture (a surrogate for the cultural whole) using various means...the phonetic spelling of colorful Southern phrases, living on a slick, colorful surface, for instance. With this invitation, I am drawing parallels between seemingly incongruent body politics. In my mind, attracting attention to these differences and similarities couldn't be more interesting or relevant. However, political statements are far from my intent. In no way am I assigning a value judgment to the cultural illustration in any piece. I am merely engaged in displaying their existence and rhetoric. These cues disguise their appearance to the point that the observers and participants in the culture believe that they are singular and unique, while they live in some form throughout
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