Mars Cheese Castle (2000)
B-Side to Mars Cheese Castle (2001)
Acrylics and correction fluid on paper, 20" x 30"
As of June, 2017, the real Mars Cheese Castle is still in business. My 2004 notes on this painting:
"Mars Cheese Castle carries such a surreal sound that no doubt you'll assume I invented it myself. But, believe it or not, you would be wrong; this is, in fact, an actual place. The Mars Cheese Castle is a restaurant found in the heart of Wisconsin, on Interstate 90, just north of Milwaukee. Having traveled through Wisconsin on many road trips to places like Chicago, Ohio, or New York, it's impossible to avoid noticing a name like that. It has such a crazy, Jimi Hendrix feel to it. Of course, this really shouldn't come as a surprise; Wisconsin is a state littered with highway billboards that only read 'CHEESE.'
"This painting is another personal favorite; you have to enjoy your work, right? Well, RIGHT?! Anyway, this is made with a mix of various canned paints, and a quick pass with the liquid paper. I also used something else; I can't remember the exact name for it, but it was a tile adhesive one uses to glue kitchen tile to the floor. It's a very sticky, thick medium that mixes with paints wonderfully. Another great example of why all artists should experiments with everything they can find.
"For the b-side, I put together a fake web page as a parody of the Internet, circa 2000. This was about the time that the dotcoms were beginning to collapse, and there was a report showing that just about the only websites making any money were the porn sites. Add in an avalanche of noisy, obnoxious banner and pop-up ads, and you've got the perfect money maker!
"Of course, there is more to the Internet in 2004 than back then; for instance, you can steal old videogames and poor-sounding MP3s."
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