by R. Thorne
Like many ’80s kids, I grew up on cartoons and TV programs that told me to brush my teeth, eat apples, and just say no to walking into Regen’s black out space to see Alex Hubbard’s new show. I am still not quite sure what I thought about it, but not in a way that makes we want to go back.
Hubbard is a painter and video artist and is known for mixing the two media together and the Regen show most definitely does precisely that. Hubbard blacks out the room, filling it with projectors which overlay 1980s-esque cartoon images onto standing wood “screens” cut out into various shapes. Some move like multi-colored worms and snakes chasing each other around a-near-figure-eight, or swallowing each other tails. Other projections include a cartoon tent, a cartoon blue whale with his mouth propped open and crying, and a cartoon worm or caterpillar seemingly laid out exhausted with its tongue extended.
Moving around the room, one becomes part of the experience, navigating the floor-level projectors and walking in front of images being projected onto the various standing cut-out surfaces. It is reminiscent of 1980s kids movie-watching parties, where a 16mm projector would be used to play movies for kids on a hanging white bed sheet surface.
Is this play? Is this art? Are you supposed to be doing this? Are we supposed to be caring? There are several layers of experience, but none seem especially compelling. Hubbard’s recollections of childhood are melded together with a depressive bent and literally projected into the present.
I don’t hate it. It reminds me of things I like being reminded of. I am not sure it does anything else or even wants to.
The images are undeniably nostalgic, playful, and colorful, and it does undeniably blur the line between video, painting, and NFTs. Someone will buy it, it will become relevant, and it won’t matter if there’s much to it, I suppose.
Image: Courtesy Regen Projects