The first set in the Polaroids series starts at the beginning and then adds a bit of television shots from later. I grouped these Polaroids because of style as much as because they are a portent of things to come.

It all began like this. My brother Mark Ashby and I were spending our first Christmas together in many years. He and his then girlfriend Mary Williams got together and gave me a Polaroid camera and a few packs of film for Christmas.

Everyone had gone to their respective families for the holiday. It was just Mark and I on a cold, creepy Christmas day. I had this ancient video camera lying around. It was as big as my torso and even larger than the television we eventually hooked it up to.

So we just got underway with an impromptu art project. I decided that rather than shoot directly, we would shoot from the television screen. It was far easier to manipulate the color and contrast than controlling the Polaroid itself.

And that’s how this magical set was created. We shot for several hours. Playing with the record feature and trying to get different effects through lighting and playing with every dial on both the television and the camera. It was an amazing Christmas for lonely orphans.

The remaining images are from regular television. Recorded on a VCR and then freeze framed and shot. A little Linda Evangelista and RCA doggy. And then lots of blurred middle fingers.

The middle fingers fascinated me because they weren’t obscuring the act or idea. The blurring was actually emphasizing the hidden icon. Making it more desirable and yet, dumbing down an already dumb idea. It’s fad captured me.

Toward the end you get a glimpse of computer glitch. An idea that is still around with me today.