After the unique experience of being a US Army paratrooper, Sean Hovendick graduated from Eastern New Mexico University studying broadcast communication, art and computer animation. After ten years of industry experience in video post-production, motion graphics and multimedia, Sean went on to earn his MFA in computer art from the Department of Transmedia at Syracuse University. In addition to operating his own design studio, Sean is an exhibiting media artist, Assistant Professor of visual arts and serves as Coordinator of the Graphic + Media Design program at Sage College in upstate New York.
Hovendick's interactive, procedural and time-based artworks explore the hidden forces of power, identity and social order within the mediated psyche. His work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally at Esther M. Klein Art Gallery, George Mason University, the Everson Museum of Art, FutureSonic: International Festival of Art, Music & Ideas in Manchester, England and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Santiago, Chile. Most recently Sean's work has been included in exhibitions at Rutgers University, Los Angeles Center for Digital Art, the Delhi International Arts Festival in New Delhi, India; the JavaMuseum in Cologne, Germany; the Artists of the Mohawk-Hudson Region, in upstate NY; and the Festival Miden 2010 in Kalamata, Greece.
Sean also works in collaboration with John Wesley Mannion under the pseudonym AREA. |
I
am very curious as to what makes men act the
way they do. My own mannerisms and ideology
seem to clash with particular identities of
men both portrayed in the media and in society
alike. Often I find myself critically analyzing
the identity of males while at other times
I feel myself conforming to a stereotype to
simply fit in. I seem to be in a constant state
of flux—on an endless journey searching
for who I am—tormented by the oddity
of the mediated persona. I attribute this contradictory
existence with my lack of a father figure and
the consequences of using mass media as
a surrogate parent.
In general, my work is a critical assessment
of media’s omnipresence and the effects
of its power to influence our society. In particular,
it reflects the alienation of the male identity
in regards to behavior learned from mediated
reality. I draw inspiration from the way in
which mass media is used for entertainment,
information and social connectedness and the
unconscious issues that arise with such dependence.
These issues of persuasive media and the effects
of mediated reality are the driving forces
of my life and work—both of which concerned
with the impalpable human identity evident
in our stereotypically based culture. |
