June 19, 2005

Mark Napier, Art and Fatherhood
by Liza Sabater

Cross-posted from I HEART NY : Mark Napier, Art and Fatherhood | The Daily Gotham

Mark Napier once said "kids don't mix with civilization ... civilization deals with elaborate organizational structures whereas kids are little bundles of chaos that shit and piss all the time". This is the same man, though, that has been known to stay up all night with a colicy baby, research Yugi Oh! cards to try to understand it's universe while in card battle with his kids, and have been known to run around the playground with toddlers chasing and screaming after him with delight; all the while coding well into the next morning his net and software art. For a guy that calls himself a reluctant father, he has found an amazing way to channel that into his art.

p-Soup a tonal net art piece that he created and tested with our oldest son when he was about 2 years old. Net Flag came out, in part, of our conversations about what is patriotism in a post-national, bilingual and multi-racial family; and what would that flag look like. Waiting Room is a comment on the "life" of the many hospital, doctor offices we've found ourselves with our kids. And his latest work, which will go up on a show at bitforms gallery in October, is a series called king kong has a lot to do with our kids' reactions after the September 11 attacks.

Our oldest son and I witnessed the collapse of the Tower #1. From that day on, the Empire State Building became the focus of my kids attention. We can see it from all our apartment's windows. At night, they look out to see what color it will be sporting for bedtime.

After the attacks, that building became their "normalizing view" of New York City. It became, literally our kids compass; the point of reference for finding their north and south. And it became an introduction into learning about New York history, architecture, geometry, math, and city politics, mapping. So when Mark started coding this piece, it came not as a surprise. The Empire State building is symbol of our kids growth and our connection to the city.

So here is to a dad, a very special dad, without whom I wouldn't be here, sitting in my living room, blogging. Without whom my life would be devoid of the two guys that have stolen my heart. Without whom the NYC art scene wouldn't be as interesting.

So, here's to Mark Napier.

Posted by Liza Sabater in Art, Life, New York City, Parenting
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