Some Americans Feel Like This

In this series, Roche has taken phrases used by a cross-section of contemporary culture, and drawn them meticulously on paper, framed them, and placed them on a museum wall. These are phrases that are often used behind closed doors: in boardrooms, living rooms, churches, meeting halls. They are also plastered on bathroom walls and protest signs. They represent radical thought from both the left and right. Roche presents them not as opinion, but as observation – “some Americans feel like this.”

Roche has drawn from many sources to assemble this body of work. Several of the phrases used are taken directly from outdoor church signs (Get Right or Get Left). The Adam and Eve, Not Adam and Steve) piece is a quote from the character Roche played in Jonathan Demme’s film, Philadelphia. Use A Lid, Have One Kid is a slogan used by the organization, ZPG (Zero Population Growth). We Should Swap Contraceptives for Fluoride in City Drinking Water is taken from Detroit News columnist, Nolan Finley. Man Seeks Female was taken from a post on Craigslist. These phrases are often taken from newsletters, online forums, or organizational rhetoric from groups like Occupy Wall Street or the Tea Party. By shining a spotlight on some of the more inflammatory and politically-incorrect views in contemporary culture, Roche is initiating serious dialogue. He is not providing solutions, but is asking better questions, the essential role of the artist in culture.