Cody Arnall and J. Eric Simpson: What Can We Make When We Can’t Make War?
January 15 - 28, 2020
Artist talk: January 23, 7pm
Cody Arnall and J. Eric Simpson exhibit their recent collaborative project Isolated State at CO-OPt : Research and Projects, with an artist talk on January 23, 2020. The installation, which takes the form of a corn-distributing deer feeder, explores the effects of industrial agriculture—its herbicide runoff, water irrigation, and physical encroachment—on playa lake ecosystems in the South Plains. Isolated State is accompanied by two other works: Granddad’s Gimmie-Caps by Simpson, and Don’t Know About You but I’m Not Going Down With the Ship by Arnall. Titled What Can We Make When We Can’t Make War?, the summation of the exhibition is haunting. It digs up the implications of the past and grapples with the fallout of the present—revealing the self-destructive tendencies in human behavior. Please join us for a conversation with Arnall and Simpson moderated by Natalie Hegert on January 23 at 7pm.
This exhibition is the first in a series of short-term installations and exhibitions revolving around the theme of “Land” presented from January to March 2020 at CO-OPt Research + Projects. Upcoming projects in this series include Tumbleweed Rodeo, an installation by Sarah Aziz and Jack Craft; Visual Resource Management, an exhibition of current research by Everything Is Collective; and The True/False Suite, or, Ruse de Guerre, a video, performance and installation by Caroline Doherty.
Works / Titles:
Cody Arnall + J. Eric Simpson
Isolated State, 2020
30 gallon RoundUp herbicide barrel, metal strap and angle iron, speakers, video monitor, dirt, Pioneer brand genetically engineered corn, native grass, wood frame, video
J. Eric Simpson
Granddad’s Gimmie-Caps, 2020
My granddad’s (Doyce Middlebrook’s) hats, 1964 – 1998
Cody Arnall
Don’t Know About You but I’m Not Going Down With the Ship, 2016
Found sun-dried worms, fabricated steel, concrete, lamp parts, plexiglass, hardware
About the artists:
Cody Arnall has been an Assistant Professor of Sculpture at Texas Tech University since 2016. Among Arnall’s recent exhibitions are those at the CICA Museum, Gimpo, South Korea; Site:Brooklyn, Brooklyn, NY; Barrister’s Gallery, New Orleans, LA; Durango Arts Center, Durango, CO; Pump Project, Austin, TX; Terminal 136, San Antonio, TX; Herron School of Art and Design, Indianapolis, IN; Brigham Young University, Provo, UT; DEMO Project, Springfield, IL; Living Arts, Tulsa, OK; the American University Museum, Washington, DC; and The Shed, Galway, IE. In July 2018, he was in residence at the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, VT. He will be taking a residency at Sculpture Space in Utica, NY in early 2020. Arnall was born and raised in Tulsa, OK. He received a B.F.A. degree in Studio Art from Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, and an M.F.A. in Studio Art from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. Prior to arriving at TTU, Arnall spent two years as a full-time instructor at the Paducah School of Art & Design in Paducah, KY. He is also a member of the international artists' collaborative, Expanded Draught and a founding member of the artist-run gallery and studio space, CO-OPt in Lubbock, TX.
J. Eric Simpson is an artist, researcher, and novice farmer in the Southern High Plains of Texas where he grows corn, pumpkins, and radishes, amongst other things. His interests include monoculture crop production, bio-technology, weed science and water collecting. His exhibitions include: Grouping in the Dark –MOCA Tucson, Tucson, AZ (2019); Lubbock City Eternal – 5&J Gallery, Lubbock, TX (2018); Transition and Transform - James Gallery, Hamilton, ON (2018); Incident Report No. 102 -Hudson, NY (2017); Amid/In WNY Epilogue - Hallwalls gallery, Buffalo NY (2017). Simpson received his BFA at Texas Tech University in 2013 and an MFA from the University at Buffalo in 2017. He is a 2015 alumni of the Land Arts of the American West program and he recently finished an artist-in-residence program at the Charles Adams Studio Project in 2019. Simpson is a member of the artist-run space, CO-OPt: Research + Projects in Lubbock, TX, founded in 2019.
Cody Arnall and J. Eric Simpson: What Can We Make When We Can’t Make War?
January 15 - 28, 2020
Artist talk: January 23, 7pm
Cody Arnall and J. Eric Simpson exhibit their recent collaborative project Isolated State at CO-OPt : Research and Projects, with an artist talk on January 23, 2020. The installation, which takes the form of a corn-distributing deer feeder, explores the effects of industrial agriculture—its herbicide runoff, water irrigation, and physical encroachment—on playa lake ecosystems in the South Plains. Isolated State is accompanied by two other works: Granddad’s Gimmie-Caps by Simpson, and Don’t Know About You but I’m Not Going Down With the Ship by Arnall. Titled What Can We Make When We Can’t Make War?, the summation of the exhibition is haunting. It digs up the implications of the past and grapples with the fallout of the present—revealing the self-destructive tendencies in human behavior. Please join us for a conversation with Arnall and Simpson moderated by Natalie Hegert on January 23 at 7pm.
This exhibition is the first in a series of short-term installations and exhibitions revolving around the theme of “Land” presented from January to March 2020 at CO-OPt Research + Projects. Upcoming projects in this series include Tumbleweed Rodeo, an installation by Sarah Aziz and Jack Craft; Visual Resource Management, an exhibition of current research by Everything Is Collective; and The True/False Suite, or, Ruse de Guerre, a video, performance and installation by Caroline Doherty.
Works / Titles:
Cody Arnall + J. Eric Simpson
Isolated State, 2020
30 gallon RoundUp herbicide barrel, metal strap and angle iron, speakers, video monitor, dirt, Pioneer brand genetically engineered corn, native grass, wood frame, video
J. Eric Simpson
Granddad’s Gimmie-Caps, 2020
My granddad’s (Doyce Middlebrook’s) hats, 1964 – 1998
Cody Arnall
Don’t Know About You but I’m Not Going Down With the Ship, 2016
Found sun-dried worms, fabricated steel, concrete, lamp parts, plexiglass, hardware
About the artists:
Cody Arnall has been an Assistant Professor of Sculpture at Texas Tech University since 2016. Among Arnall’s recent exhibitions are those at the CICA Museum, Gimpo, South Korea; Site:Brooklyn, Brooklyn, NY; Barrister’s Gallery, New Orleans, LA; Durango Arts Center, Durango, CO; Pump Project, Austin, TX; Terminal 136, San Antonio, TX; Herron School of Art and Design, Indianapolis, IN; Brigham Young University, Provo, UT; DEMO Project, Springfield, IL; Living Arts, Tulsa, OK; the American University Museum, Washington, DC; and The Shed, Galway, IE. In July 2018, he was in residence at the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, VT. He will be taking a residency at Sculpture Space in Utica, NY in early 2020. Arnall was born and raised in Tulsa, OK. He received a B.F.A. degree in Studio Art from Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, and an M.F.A. in Studio Art from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. Prior to arriving at TTU, Arnall spent two years as a full-time instructor at the Paducah School of Art & Design in Paducah, KY. He is also a member of the international artists' collaborative, Expanded Draught and a founding member of the artist-run gallery and studio space, CO-OPt in Lubbock, TX.
J. Eric Simpson is an artist, researcher, and novice farmer in the Southern High Plains of Texas where he grows corn, pumpkins, and radishes, amongst other things. His interests include monoculture crop production, bio-technology, weed science and water collecting. His exhibitions include: Grouping in the Dark –MOCA Tucson, Tucson, AZ (2019); Lubbock City Eternal – 5&J Gallery, Lubbock, TX (2018); Transition and Transform - James Gallery, Hamilton, ON (2018); Incident Report No. 102 -Hudson, NY (2017); Amid/In WNY Epilogue - Hallwalls gallery, Buffalo NY (2017). Simpson received his BFA at Texas Tech University in 2013 and an MFA from the University at Buffalo in 2017. He is a 2015 alumni of the Land Arts of the American West program and he recently finished an artist-in-residence program at the Charles Adams Studio Project in 2019. Simpson is a member of the artist-run space, CO-OPt: Research + Projects in Lubbock, TX, founded in 2019.