The Secret Emotional Ingredient Jason Guo Uses To Create Artwork That Goes Viral
Art galleries, museums, and everything in between are places we can go to for sources of inspiration. The artwork you see in these places usually covers a broad spectrum of emotions. Attending an exhibition can leave us feeling inspired, surprised, and in some occasions sad. The emotional element not often found at these places is humor. In short, most art is serious.
Going against the emotional grain of the art industry, Chicago creative Jason Guo uses his sense of humor as a source of inspiration in his work today. Equal parts comedian/artist he uses typography as a medium to create unfiltered statements often found to be hilarious!
14 Billion Legs, Jason Guo, 2021 “ I think humor allows artwork to not feel so pretentious, it makes it relatable to regular people. I like to laugh, so for me, sharing that emotion with others is really important. I’m always pushing myself to be an optimist. In life you can choose to focus on any aspect, I just choose to focus on light-hearted emotions. “
The optimism in some of his work is so powerful, in his hands even an assault rifle can feel a bit innocent. Jason created a mold of an AK-47, a weapon responsible for millions of deaths, then covered it with the sprinkles you’d find at an ice cream store.
By combining two elements that are our known to give off two completely different emotions, he found a way to take a negative and make it positive. One of the many tricks up his artistic sleeve.
One Year American, 2011 (sold)
“ In this piece, I folded 270 one hundred dollar bills to fit into 270 empty gelatin 00 capsules. Collectively it contains $27 000; the annual income of an average American in 2011.
Much of the artists work revolves around text based creations. His ability to add clever phrases to every day items has brought him lot of attention.
Unfortunately not all of his viewers have had good intentions. With the internet, once you have a great idea and it becomes public, big brands can take it, then make it their own.
“ I lost count of how many huge companies saw one of my phrases and started putting it on their products. The natural response is anger and a lawsuit. But going against them, they’ll bury you with paperwork. These businesses have a legal team of their own. So I just keep smiling and creating more work. “
If You Wanna Have Sex Lighter, 2020
Last year the artist played with the idea of putting a message on a lighter to create humor between those who share it. It quickly became a hit and he’s now shipping thousands of them each month across the globe. Every day more and more people grin from his work. Those who don’t, are looked at as a challenge, and he’ll continue to create ideas until even the most stern viewers crack a smile….
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Originally published at https://artistreplete.com on July 19, 2021.
