Week 8 — Artist — Joseph DeLappe & Micol Hebron

Artists: Micol Hebron and Joseph DeLappe

Media: Video Art, Performance Art, New Media

Websites: http://micolhebron.artcodeinc.com/pages/art/ & http://www.delappe.net/

Intermedia artists Micol Hebron and Joseph DeLappe are both extremely talented. Michol Hebron studied at UCLA where she got a Bachelor’s in the Arts as well as a Masters in Fine Arts. Micol Hebron is also studying what is known as Video Art or Performance Art. Similarly, Joseph DeLappe works with the virtual world and is currently a professor of “Games and Tactical Media” at Abertay University which is located in Scotland. Both Hebron and DeLappe work with “New Media”.

I stumbled upon a bunch of Hebron’s feminist work, she is very passionate about this topic and it is made evident throughout her work. DeLappe’s work is unlike anything I’ve seen before, he made a self-portrait of himself, as a Monster Truck! Hebron’s work hints a lot at gender and gender norms. She creates images with computer software, or with what I assume is photoshop. One, for example, is a cropped image of a male nipple alongside a witty caption connoting to the “unacceptable” female nipple. DeLappe’s portrays himself as what seems like a silver monster truck. The light blue background behind the big silver monster truck brings the whole thing together.

Hebron is very vocal and passionate about her feminist views, she portrays them beautifully in many of her pieces. There is one that particularly stood out to me, the one I mentioned previously. On Hebron’s website, there is an image, which I assume she created, but it shows a picture of a male’s nipple alongside a caption stating “This is a male nipple: If you are going to post pictures of topless women, please use this acceptable male nipple template to cover over the unacceptable female nipples… thank you for helping to make the world a safer place.” With this, Hebron sheds light on the way society works, what is deemed acceptable, and what isn’t, sort of mocking it. It’s genius! DeLappe’s work is just as amazing. I stumbled upon a self-portrait he made of himself as a Monster Truck — This is so cool, I really enjoy how different it is. Both Hebron and DeLappe explore different media and it’s astonishing to look at really.

After researching both Micol Hebron and Joseph DeLappe, I feel a huge sense of inspiration. I love discovering new things and these two definitely showed me a whole different side of art that I find truly interesting. Work with “New Media” seems so appropriate now and I feel so intrigued by it, especially now after seeing what these two intermedia artists have made.