Artist: Joseph DeLappe
Media: new media, electronic media, installations, electromechanical, online gaming, sculptures
Website: http://www.delappe.net
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/josephdelappe/
Joseph DeLappe is extremely experienced and knowledgeable in many art forms. He is currently a professor of Games and Tactical Media at Abertay University in Dundee Scotland, but before that he was actually directing the Digital Media program at the University of Nevada in Reno for over twenty years. Despite working on two different sides of the globe, he is actually from California, San Francisco to be exact. He is very well educated in the arts, with a Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design, a Master of Arts in Computer Art and Design, and a Master of Fine Arts in Pictorial Arts. He is clearly well rounded and that can very much be seen in all of his work throughout the years. He is no way a typical visual artist with paintings and sketches, but instead has these huge visions and ideas for more complicated, new, and just different kinds of work. Because of this, he has had the privilege to have his work shown in exhibits all around the world. Due to Joseph’s extreme talent and messages shown through his artwork, he has then also been able to lecture across the world regarding his work.
By browsing his website and looking at his many exhibits, installations, images, performances, etc… it is clear that Joseph is quite political. But this can actually be seen as quite a good thing because of all the current issues going on in our world. The sculpture “Thoughts and Prayers” in particular really spoke out to me. This piece is a giant cardboard sculpture of an AR-15 assault rifle, and it very obviously represents the huge gun violence issue here in the United States. Guns are a terrible weapon, and cause harm and pain all over the world, but in more recent years it has drastically become an issue that we see way too frequently in the news. And sadly, an AR-15 is what is most commonly seen in these major shootings that have happened in the recent years. Although a sensitive topic, this is quite powerful, especially the title of it. This is because when you think about it, the phrase “our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the victims…” is what we see all over the news and media when these terrible events take place. And at this point, “thoughts and prayers” has become such an automatic response that gets said for anything traumatizing that sadly no one can truly be helpful. Seeing this giant sculpture though is that reminder that this is a major issue, it is raw, direct, and sad, but it does really bring out the clear dangerous aspect of this object, and the fact that something needs to be done about this issue. This piece is quite simple, it’s just a bunch of basic brown cardboard shaped into a gun,but it is extremely powerful and meaningful.
Joseph is an artist who has work that when you look at it, it is pretty easy to figure out what he is trying to say. His ideas aren’t abstract and all over the place, but instead he is pretty clear and focused which is why the messages he is expressing are easy to understand since they usually have to do with pretty heavy topics. Again, Joseph is pretty political with his artwork. Just reading the names of some of his work like “Liberty Weeps,” “Paper Soldier,” “Killbox,” and “Taliban Hands” clearly show he is serious in what he is trying to not only show, but say. Basically Joseph’s intention with his artwork is to forge a connection between a concept and object while bringing up questions on a larger issue. He likes to challenge social expectations and norms, and provoke feelings that then get people to question bigger things and problems with our world.
Although talking politics is not my goto, I do respect that within much of his work he is bringing up these major issues. Politics usually upset me, and it would definitely not be something I’d choose to express because of how controversial it can be, I like how I can agree with most of what he is saying. It is actually quite relieving to see someone actually call out these issues though, because there are many out there still that choose to overlook it and not actually learn from all the things that happen. His media is also not something I’d gravitate to first, but again because it is different and new and experimental, it makes it that much more interesting to me. Although he is not an artist I’d follow because it seems hard to relate to his work. With Joseph it’s a lot about teaching and telling of facts and issues and history, rather than personal experience. It is amazing how clearly his work is and what he is saying, because being able to get an actual point across and call out what is wrong is extremely powerful; his work is just different to me, but I do truly respect it.
