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Writer's pictureJason

Amazing Stranger

In 2011 I finished my MFA in photography at SCAD. It had taken six and a half years, one staff scholarship class at a time, and finally it was time to plan a show. I'd been having a fun time creating these kind of fable stories with "the mask man" and finished that series of work with a show at Jennifer Schwartz Gallery in Atlanta.

An installation view of Jason Parker's "Amazing Stranger" at Jennifer Schwartz Gallery, August, 2011.
An installation view of Jason Parker's "Amazing Stranger" at Jennifer Schwartz Gallery, August, 2011.

But having a gallery show wasn't really my ambition. For a week in August of 2011, I ran a series of images on a digital billboard over Peachtree Street in the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta. Something in the neighborhood of 250,000 people saw my work. I wanted to take advantage of digital technology to get out of the gallery and into people's lives.


The work was intended as a brief, absurd break to the monotony of traffic and sense of inadequacy in advertisement. I wasn't asking the viewer for anything, just showing up and providing a little amusement. It was also a way to draw a lot more attention than an MFA graduate thesis show might normally generate. I got a writeup in Scoutmob and was interviewed on WMLB AM1690 - The Voice of the Arts' Politely Disruptive radio show. If I can find the audio recording I promise I'll share.

The crew and hosts of "Politely Disruptive" on 1690AM, following my interview August 23, 2011
The crew and hosts of "Politely Disruptive" on 1690AM, following my interview August 23, 2011



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