Utilizing film, video, objects, performance and installation, this work takes cynicism, futility and tragedy as starting points, then counters the thematic heaviness with dry, comic delivery. Often structured like the familiar “shaggy dog joke,” much of this work is a deadpan escalation of expectations, followed by an anticlimactic, winking punch line. It is a celebration of futility, resignation and pathos.
There is strong skepticism toward themes of development, transformation and emergence, whether applied to art practice itself, or taken in a broader sense. In the video work, repeated use of an earnest “everyman” character in short looping videos suggest an inescapable cycle of trial and failure, in many ways a reflection on the mechanics of making artwork and the frustrations that can accompany it’s presentation. Ultimately, however, this work is intended to convey the belief that it is better to do most types of something, than most types of nothing.

bio:
Jon Sasaki’s videos have been presented at the Oberhausen International Short Film Festival, Blackwood Gallery, (University of Toronto at Mississauga,) The Aurora Picture Show in conjunction with The Menil Collection, (Houston, TX) and CAFKA (Contemporary Art Forum, Kitchener and Area). He has completed projects for C-Magazine, Art Metropole editions, Massive Party (Art Gallery of Ontario fundraiser), and the Playlist Thursday event series at the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto. Jon has had recent solo exhibitions at Gallery TPW, Toronto, The New Gallery, Calgary, The Centre for Culture and Leisure #1, Toronto, and participated in recent group exhibitions at Jessica Bradley Art+Projects, Toronto, the Owens Art Gallery (Mount Allison University, Sackville, NB) and the Koffler Gallery, Toronto. Upcoming exhibitions include: Stories, In Pieces at the Justina M. Barnicke Gallery, University of Toronto, and The Constant Search for a Better Way, Simon Fraser University Gallery. Jon was an active member of the Instant Coffee art collective between 2002 and 2007. He currently lives and works in Toronto.