Casey Roonan

“Prospect Street,” digital mixed media print on paper and bristol, 10 1/2” x 1 1/4” accordion-fold artist book in 2 1/4” x 2 1/4” sleeve, 2011.

This is a bit more impressive if you can actually hold it in your hands… My goal here was to draw parallel between the intimate, engaging experience of collecting vintage records with the very confessional nature my work usually takes. The images that make up the miniature “record sleeve” that the comic is nestled in are actual scans of my own, personal copy of Southside Johnny’s “Hearts of Stone.” Which is a superb record. The inner, paper sleeve was hand crafted and not very well photographed, here. Again, you’ll have to trust me that this is all much cooler in person.

The book itself is a brief meditation on my sort of distracted isolation this year at school; living and studying at the very corner between RISD and Brown, which is named Prospect Street (rather ironically, all things considered). I thought Sophomore year would hold a lot of possibilities for me, but instead I’m still locking myself in my room on the weekend, slaving over silly comics and miniature record sleeves. So this is about that total lack of prospects - or at least, the lack of any clue how to pursue any of those “prospects” passing me by.

Also: girls!

-CR