Daniel Blomquist

Bio

Daniel Blomquist is an interdisciplinary artist born and raised in central California. He received his BA in Electronic Communication Arts from San Francisco State University in 2002. Currently, he is working towards his MFA in New Genres at the San Francisco Art Institute. Daniel's most recent show was an art auction he was invited to participate in called Spectrum 5, which benefited the Access Institute of San Francisco.

Statement

What is it that makes us different from any other stranger we pass on the street?

We all can admit that we have judged another person unconsciously based upon their appearance, long before ever even meeting them. From this we go about assuming intelligence, wealth, abilities, sex etc. First impressions based on appearance are more often than not wrong and many times offensive. One of the things I wanted to look at in this piece was this idea of first impressions; only I wanted the viewers to look at themselves.

The piece is composed of two bullet cameras, two monitors, a net and a rigging system to suspend the two monitors from the ceiling of the gallery. It was originally conceived for a group show themed around entropy. In reaction to this theme I created a looping video system that would show the viewers an image of themselves from an angle that had been obscured by the placement of the cameras in regards to the monitors as well as the entropy that occurs to an image in the CCTV system. By raising the monitors off the ground and placing the security cameras at a distance away, the viewer didn't place themselves as the person they were looking at in the monitor. If they took the time to recognize their image in the monitors their relationship with the piece would change like a relationship changes during a conversation.