Exhibited at the following locations:

• Hip Joynt, lexington, KY. April - 30, 1997
• The Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning, Lexington, KY. August 8 - September 10, 1997
• Birmingham Art Association, Birmingham, AL. September 12 - October 3, 1997
• Carnegie Center, Covington, KY. November 7 - November 26, 1997
• Spartanburg County Museum of Art, Spartanburg, SC. December 1 - January 4, 1998
• Schenectady Museum of Art, Schenectedy, NY. 1998
• Meridian Museum of Art, Meridian, MS. 1998

With a wry nod to another outsider who chose recently to tinker with Kentucky history and cultural issues, artist Bruce Burris invites the spectator to view his attempt at organizing his experience as a recent resident of Kentucky in an installation titled, "Kentuckycycle".

An unruly tornado tossed salad of cultural knickknacks, media sound bites, religious texts, hillbilly souvenirs, fares, broken jalopies, and more, "Kentuckycycle" confronts us with an overwhelming amount of information, and in particular, the sort of misinformation which all too frequently informs our popular stereotypes and prejudices.

The focus of Burris' installation is Eastern Kentucky, and is part of an evolving roadshow which grew out of drawings from a portfolio to be published in The Southern Quarterly. The artist will tell you himself that he has never visited Eastern Kentucky. He wants viewers to see how cultural perspectives are shaped through media, cultural institutions, and the like. Berea College and Appalshop are of particular interest as he points out how they have contributed to framing the region's cultural identity.

Burris has discussed these issues with other area artists over the years and recently began collaboration with Lexington artist, Christina Godsey. Godsey, a recent University of Kentucky graduate, is from Edmonton, Kentucky. As she puts it, her parents are Hillbilly and Phillipino or "Phillbilly." Godsey works from a very personal perspective, and it is that of the outside, within. Though native born to the region, because of her parents' unique lineage, she was often seen through the lens of the "outsider." The work she will contribute to the installation will be a continuation of her look at identity issues.

I hear people muttering, "confusing," 'disorganized," 'incoherent," and Burris would have it no other way. He makes little attempt to control this installation. "This is not the way information works," he says. 'Information is not polite and it is often downright mean and misleading." That said, enjoy Burris' installation for what it is, a funny, maddening, saddening, menacing opus, which seems to say in the end, "Hey, I could do that!" and in fact, you have.

Note: Also see related text on cultural hierarchy on the Trail of fears: the drawings of Bruce Burris by Meredith Redlin.