2008
Gretchen Bennett made 10 drawings by transferring YouTube stills to slides and projecting them onto the paper. The slightly trapezoidal, rather than rectangular, outlines of the drawings are a subtle reminder that this source material is the epitome of distortion, of noise and change. In one sense, the images—stills from the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" video, from Gus Van Sant's film Last Days, and from concert videos—are so overdetermined as to be meaningless. This stuff has congealed into all the generalities and clichés that are implied by Cobain's scoliotic slump and the hair obscuring his face. -Jen Graves
Reviews:
Matthew Offenbacher, “Green Gothic,” La Especial Norte #4, June 2009
Jen Graves, "Here We Are Now," The Stranger, April 3, 2008
Sharon Butler, “Gretchen Bennett’s Love Letters to Kurt Cobain In Seattle,” Two Coats of Paint, April 4, 2008
Photos: Steven Miller
