Michael Smith is one of those artists that once you discover you become obsessed. A former collaborator of Mike Kelley, his work has ranged from documenting his entry into a disco competition, dressing as a giant baby and installation pieces touching on the false narrative of commercial culture. 'MUSCO' is a fake commercial for Smith’s music-focused lighting equipment company. The satirical pastiche looks at the progression of “the mail order illumination business”, from psychedelic oil projections in the 60s to 1980s video walls. It was originally part of a collaborative exhibition with Joshua White, where it featured in a fake dying shop installation. The film, like much of Smith’s work, is full of pathos at the death of the American dream and an ode to media itself.
Courtesy of the artist and Dan Gunn Gallery.