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DAVE GREBER ◆ BALTIMORE ◆ VIDEO INSTALLATION · PROJECTION MAPPING · AR · DESIGN OBJECTS ◆ REVEALING / CONCEALING MYSTIC TRUTHS ◆ COMMISSIONS & COLLABORATIONS ◆ DAVE GREBER ◆ BALTIMORE ◆ VIDEO INSTALLATION · PROJECTION MAPPING · AR · DESIGN OBJECTS ◆ REVEALING / CONCEALING MYSTIC TRUTHS ◆ COMMISSIONS & COLLABORATIONS ◆
DAVE GREBER ◆ BALTIMORE ◆ VIDEO INSTALLATION · PROJECTION MAPPING · AR · DESIGN OBJECTS ◆ REVEALING / CONCEALING MYSTIC TRUTHS ◆ COMMISSIONS & COLLABORATIONS ◆ DAVE GREBER ◆ BALTIMORE ◆ VIDEO INSTALLATION · PROJECTION MAPPING · AR · DESIGN OBJECTS ◆ REVEALING / CONCEALING MYSTIC TRUTHS ◆ COMMISSIONS & COLLABORATIONS ◆
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One channel of the Primer video installation — a skeleton commercial filled with Greber's own mystic agenda.
A single channel from Primer, Greber's video installation built inside repurposed TV boxes. Like the rest of the series, "Wisdom" takes the tone, cadence, and graphic illusions of corporate television advertising and refills the empty shell with the artist's own agenda — revealing the form itself as psychologically manipulative, then turning it toward viewer empowerment? 2010.
One channel of the Prospect 1.5 installation conflating tarot and "Deal or No Deal" — a flame-eyed cat as the Devil, a suitcase of toxic fruit. Reviewed in Art in America.
A portion of Greber's multi-channel installation The Fool, The Hierophant, The Devil and the Wheel, shown at Madame John's Legacy as part of Prospect 1.5 New Orleans. Four fever-dream-colored channels conflate two systems concerned with the unspooling of destiny: tarot and the game show "Deal or No Deal." The Devil appears as a flame-eyed cat whose purr is picked up by a clutch of telephones; the mystery suitcase opens to reveal not treasure but glowing, toxic-looking fruit. Reviewed in Art in America (Jan. 2011) by Marcia E. Vetrocq. 2010.
A mock product spot for the Pumpkin Pencil™ — "the most important step in our quest to liberate consciousness from these biological prisons we call bodies."
A faux-commercial for the Pumpkin Pencil™ by SquashScribe®, pitched as the most important step in humankind's quest to liberate consciousness from "these biological prisons we call bodies." Early work in Greber's vein of skeleton commercials that adopt corporate advertising's tone and cadence to deliver a mystic, absurdist agenda. 2010.
A phone-shot "video selfie" from the Appalachian Trail — Greber walks the woods narrating his life lived through social media. 4 min.
Shot entirely on a smartphone during Greber's months-long journey along the Appalachian Trail, this four-minute piece functions as a modified video selfie: Greber walks through the woods detailing his use of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr as a platform for his artwork in lieu of physical presence in society. For long stretches his mouth and eyes are erased, leaving only the shell of his form; "the void" stands in as a mysterious place of potential enlightenment, set against the constructed world of the internet. Commissioned by Deltaworkers as a response to Melanie Bonajo's "Night Soil/Fake Paradise."
A charismatic reality-TV host channels not corporate will but a mystic vision — can corrupt media languages expand consciousness? Infinite loop.
The Charismatic Host is a familiar trope from documentary, advertising, and reality TV — the pseudo-pastoral figure who voices his employer's will through chats with ordinary people (think Mike Rowe for Ford). Here the Host's employer is instead a mystic vision, a non-linear, non-commercial agenda that contradicts the genre's popular appeal, asking whether these corrupt media languages can be harnessed for the expansion of human consciousness. Infinite loop, 2012. Written by Dave Greber, Mike Celec, Jacob Edwards; starring Roel Miranda and ensemble.
A philanthropic, rollerblading talk-show host hits the streets to help everyday people with their existential issues. The sequel.
A philanthropic host straps on his 'blades and "hits the streets" to help everyday people with their existential issues — the crude visual language of the reality talk show set against emotionally elevated content. The long-awaited sequel to the video-loop YouCantRiptheSkinOffofaSnake (2012). Directed and edited by Dave Greber; written by Dave Greber, Kelci M. Kelci, and Roel Miranda; starring Roel Miranda and a New Orleans ensemble cast.
The full third volume of the YCRtSOoaS trilogy — mall shoppers guided to parse "wants" from "needs" and the esoteric truth behind their familial desires.
Back at it again, talking to REAL PEOPLE about REAL THINGS: by reaching out to shoppers in a local mall, Roel helps consumers sort their "wants" from their "needs" and uncover the esoteric truth behind their familial desires. The third and final volume of the YCRtSOoaS trilogy, filmed in residence at Salon in the Canal Place mall, New Orleans (2019). Featuring Roel Miranda, Tom O'Brien, Mikey B., and Kerstin R. Music: "Laserpack" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons By Attribution 3.0.
Mall shoppers get help parsing "wants" from "needs" — a tangent spun off the YouCantRipTheSkinOffOfASnake trilogy.
Back at it again, talking to REAL PEOPLE about REAL THINGS: by reaching out to shoppers in a local mall, Roel helps consumers sort their "wants" from their "needs" and uncover the esoteric truth behind their desires. A short tangent spun off the third volume of the YCRtSOoaS trilogy, filmed in residence at Salon in the Canal Place mall, New Orleans (2019). Featuring Roel Miranda and Tom O'Brien.
An epic poem disguised as an educational video, tracing the life cycle of a Casebearer moth — language, voices, and visuals made with nacent AI models.
An epic poem in the form of an enigmatic educational video, following the life cycle of a plaster bagworm (Casebearer) moth as it traverses the ceiling of the artist's studio. AI-generated narrators tell the creature's mystic story as the narrative diverges into an alien nature documentary; the bagworm becomes a metaphor for self-sufficiency and grace in the face of precarity. Greber's fork and expansion of an original collaboration with Cristina Molina, made for the residency A Structure Envisioned for Changing Circumstances. The language, voices, and some visuals were created in collaboration with AI models. 9:59 min, 4K animation.
A faux wellness-resort ad ("Deltoid") built almost entirely from scripted verbatim from a real human Instagram story. 1:37 min.
A short film posing as promotional content for "Deltoid," a fictional sanctuary for well-being. Red-tracksuited, Zardozy guests move through a serene resort of pools, hot tubs, and a Grab-and-Go Marketplace, all in service of mindfulness and hydration. Fabricated almost entirely from raw AI materials (hotshot.co, runwayml.com, kits.ai, Adobe, AI Test Kitchen) — except the script, lifted verbatim from a human Instagram story. 1:37 min, HD 16:9, 2023.
You Are Giving Universe. You Are Giving Universe (YAGU) starts as a set of short vertical loops that borrow TikTok AI how-to pacing while the “lesson” never fully arrives. Literally, how to eliminate all human/thought from your workflow/lifeflow.
This video presents the first five vignettes from YAGU, a larger series of silent ad-formal loops. The work grew out of a commission for Houston Sculpture Month, where these videos were projected as part of an installation.
Each vignette borrows the cadence of ads and TikTok tutorials on removing all humans from the creative process—short arcs, clear steps—to remove the product, buyer, or purpose. What remains are poetic “anti-ads”: human figures as vessels, AI-generated surfaces that reference commerce and mysticism. Together they almost resolve into a brand: the brand of absence.
The Casebearer 2.0
An epic poem in the form of an enigmatic educational video following the life-cycle of a Casebearer Moth. The language, voices, and (some) visuals were created in collaboration with artificial intelligence models.
One third of the three-channel Primer installation — a skeleton commercial that exposes advertising's manipulations while making you laugh.
One third of the three-channel video installation Primer, exhibited at The Front, New Orleans (May–June 2010). Greber researches and exposes the tactics of corporate television advertising — building a skeleton commercial from its tone, cadence, and verbal and graphic illusions, then filling the shell with his own agenda to reveal the form as psychologically manipulative and reframe it toward viewer empowerment. Laughing and understanding are synonymous. 2010.