Kelly Mark: I Really Should... (CD)

I Really Should... (CD) - 2002
Audio, 58 minutes - unlimited edition
Audio recording of 1000 things I really should do...

exhibition history>
2002 Wynick-Tuck Gallery (Toronto ON); 2002 Museum of New Art (Detroit Michigan US); 2002 Tracey Lawrence Gallery (Vancouver BC); 2003 IKON Gallery (Birmingham UK); 2003 Real Art Ways (Hartford CT US); 2003 The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery (Toronto ON); 2003 Weewerk Project Space (Toronto ON); 2004 AKA Artist Space (Saskatoon SK); 2004 Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (Middlesbrough UK); 2004 Artspeak Gallery (Vancouver BC); 2005 Albright Knox Gallery (Buffalo NY); 2005 Musee D'Art Contemporain (Montreal PQ); 2005 Center on Contemporary Art (Seattle WA); 2005 Contemporary Museum (Honolulu HI); 2005 Lisson Gallery (London UK); 2006 Chicago Cultural Center (Chicago IL); 2006 Winnipeg Art Gallery (Winnipeg MB); 2006 Third Space (St John NB); 2007 (Kinz, Tillou & Feigen (NY); 2007 The Funny Farm - Electric Eclectics Sound Festival (Meaford ON); 2007 Justina M Barnicke Gallery (Hart House) University of Toronto (Toronto ON); 2007 Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto (Mississauga ON); 2008 Cambridge Galleries (Cambridge ON); 2008 MSVU Gallery (Halifax NS);

As heard on: WFMU, New York & KKFI 90.1 FM, Kansas City

Available at: Wynick/Tuck Gallery (Toronto); Art Metropole (Toronto); Power Plant (Toronto); Lawrence Eng (Vancouver); Contemporary Art Gallery (Vancouver); drivedrive.com (Germany & online); Ikon Gallery (Birmingham UK); Musee D'Art Contemporain (Montreal PQ)...or contact me directly

This work utilizes text, which I have been playing with since 1996. This text is a stream of consciousness type list of things that “I really should” do such as “pay back my student loan”, “drink more water”, “take more chances”, “clean out the litter box” etc… Originally this took the form of a video monologue, and then later in 1999 it came to the surface again in my work as hand written black magic marker notes on refrigerators (view). Currently I have reincarnated this list, which I have increased to 1000 things “I really should” do, as an audio CD multiple. This latest version can be exhibited in various ways such as a minimalist wall mounted stainless steel sound box, with or without headphones; or simply playing through speakers directly in the gallery. The audio track is a monotone voice (myself) listing off all 1000 things I really should do. This work is clearly humorous and lighthearted in nature. I first began this inane list in order to poke fun at myself and to comment on my increasingly obsessive tendencies. However, this work is not limited to being simply autobiographical in nature. The tendency towards procrastination, whether it involves doing those things we have always wanted to, improving self-perceived character flaws or the mind numbingly repetitive tasks of everyday life, surely this proclivity is universal whatever the personal circumstance.

I really should quit my day job
I really should clean out my wallet
I really should pay back my student loan
I really should watch what I eat
I really should stop smoking
I really should cut down on my caffeine
I really should have asked them to lay me off
I really should have stolen more office supplies
I really should update my resume
I really should stop pawning my stuff
I really should leave my body to science
I really should stop being so lazy
I really should get my watchband fixed
I really should stop making lists of things to do
I really should stop shooting elastics at the cat
I really should declare bankruptcy
I really should stop gambling
I really should take more chances
I really should drink more water
I really should redecorate
I really should get another tattoo
I really should give sushi another chance
I really should try and be less sarcastic
I really should tell them how I feel
I really should at least pretend I'm listening
I really should demand better service
I really should listen to more heavy metal
I really should find out what caused that weird rash
I really should do something about this hangover
I really should avoid that bar for a while
I really should check for wire taps
I really should stop being so paranoid
I really should update my wardrobe
I really should go shopping
I really should roll my loose change
I really should learn to roll a proper joint
I really should ask for a free sample
I really should find my twin
I really should get the cat down from there
I really should double down whenever I can
I really should stop using the phrase gay-lord
I really should redirect my anger
I really should plan the perfect murder
I really should finally decide between coke and pepsi
I really should find my happy place
I really should whack some sense into them
I really should tell him his fly is down
I really should tell her her panty lines are showing
I really should eat more bran
I really should get one just like it
I really should lead a more spiritual life
I really should stop giving the cat bologna
I really should get my head examined
I really should reschedule my lobotomy
I really should finish what I start
I really should focus on whats important
I really should take a nap
I really should rent to own
I really should deal with my fear of colour
I really should have asked for it in blue
I really should declare all these earnings
I really should apologize for that night
I really should stop feeling so guilty
I really should avoid small children when I can
I really should lie and say I'm allergic
I really should rejoin the labour market
I really should become a crime fighter
I really should see if I'm eligible
I really should ask what the soup of the day is
I really should make better choices in my life
I really should have keyed that fucker's car
I really should execute my master plan
I really should find a back way out of here
I really should get a life
I really should raise the ante
I really should scrub that orange stain out my sink
I really should play for time
I really should switch to extra smooth
I really should count to ten
I really should let more people buy me drinks
I really should admit that I've gone too far
I really should enjoy the benefits of membership
I really should buy flints for my zippo
I really should bbq more often
I really should swallow my pride
I really should find myself a sugar daddy
I really should try and trade up
I really should pick up the tab
I really should put on some Johnny Cash
I really should stay away from hippies
etc...