"Law of Averages" takes place in a lush garden. The temptation in this garden is an interactive theatre called "The Big Ghost". Vynola, an exotic bird-like creature, is the bawdy tour guide in this endlessly exciting cyber world (as long as the viewers have money to pay for it.) Destitute people, addicted to this entertainment, are frequently in the vicinity of the theatre. Every one has a place that they live, some of them have a wall or two. They all have a couch and a TV because it helps them think. "The Big Ghost" is the only actual building in this garden.
As I developed this project, it became clear that the key to this work is in the portrayed environment. It is an environment full of con-tradictions. While it is a lush world, the plants and flowers are frequently personified spewing pollen, eating things or stretching their stamens out to rub against each other. "The Big Ghost" is a monolithic structure amid the trees. The name, "The Big Ghost" was used by an indigenous rain forest tribe in Brazil, specifically, Chief Kanhonk of the Kaiapo Indians, to describe television. The Kaiapo Indians have no written language, their history was handed down through stroy telling. Television became a substitute for that story telling, so a generation grew up with no interest in their history. In "Law of Averages", "The Big Ghost" is not hust an evolved constantly exciting entertainment. It is an addictice substitute for all interpersonal relationships. With this work I wanted to present an allegorical look at complex issues of contemporary life. I did not want to present a happily arrived at conclusion. I wanted to show imperfect characters making decisions about daily events while enduring the complications of technology, overly simplified doctrines for living, their pets and each other.

James Duesing (USA), animator and electronic artist, primary concentration in the area of computer animation. His work has been exhibited widely, in over a hundred festivals and exhibitions, and it has been televised in the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia. This fall he will participate in a residency program at the Marin Headlands Center for the Arts in California.