Swimming Pool Project Space is proud to present MERIT, a solo exhibition by Steven Frost.
In Frost's Merit Badge Series, he examines the disconnect between the traditional rites of passage celebrated by the Boy Scouts and the actual events that mark our transitions into adulthood.
What becomes of the those boys who learned to build fires, serve dinner to seniors, and climb mountains? Today's young scouts find themselves in a modern world where “good citizen” skills are rendered useless. Resourcing materials that have their own history, Frost creates contemporary traditions that honor more ephemeral but meritorious achievements: those that represent our character. Too Old for MTV Badge; Finding Yourself In Craigslist Missed Connections Badge; I Like Girls For Different Reasons Badge; Losing Your Phone on the Chinatown Bus Badge; these universal, yet personal experiences demarcate our life histories, and honor who we are on the path to what we become.
The Merit Badge Series begins a conversation with Lee Edleman's work on futurity. In his
text No Future, Edleman disputes our cultural focus on child rearing and reproduction, and
raises questions about many of the fictional narratives that persist in the name of children.
Much in the same way that Edleman's work challenges prescribed notions of futurity, Frost's
work re-appropriates textiles, advertisements, and pornographic imagery from their
predefined function and uses them to express new ideas.
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