I Really Should... - 2002
Audio CD, 48+ minutes, unlimited edition
Audio recording of 1000 things I really should do...


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Below, click to play: I Really by Sandrien ft. Kelly Mark (8:54)
In 2010 i was contacted by Intacto Records in Amsterdam, one of their artists, Sandrien, used my vocals from "I Really Should..." for a kick-ass little electronic piece. I love it. Youtube
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Below, click to play: Response to Kelly Mark by Mark Ferkul (58:00)
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This work utilizes text, which I had been playing with since 1996. The text is a stream of consciousness type list of things that “I really should” do such as “pay back my student loan”, “drink more water”, “take more chances”, “clean out the litter box” etc… Originally this took the form of a video monologue, and then later in 1999 it came to the surface again in my work as hand written black magic marker notes on refrigerators (view). In 2002 I reincarnated this list, which I increased to 1000 things “I really should” do, as an audio CD multiple. This latest version can be exhibited in various ways such as a minimalist wall mounted stainless steel sound box, with or without headphones; or simply playing through speakers directly in the gallery. The audio track is a monotone voice (myself) listing off all 1000 things I really should do. This work is clearly humorous and lighthearted in nature. I first began this inane list in order to poke fun at myself and to comment on my increasingly obsessive tendencies. However, this work is not limited to being simply autobiographical in nature. The tendency towards procrastination, whether it involves doing those things we have always wanted to, improving self-perceived character flaws or the mind numbingly repetitive tasks of everyday life, surely this proclivity is universal whatever the personal circumstance.

Radio Play:2003 WFMU (New York); KKFI 90.1 FM (Kansas City)
Live Performance:2015 NAISA (Toronto) as part of Crosswaves #5. Curated by Christof Mignon.

Exhibition History:
2002 Wynick-Tuck Gallery (Toronto ON); 2002 Museum of New Art (Detroit Michigan US); 2002 Tracey Lawrence Gallery (Vancouver BC); 2003 IKON Gallery (Birmingham UK); 2003 Real Art Ways (Hartford CT US); 2003 The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery (Toronto ON); 2003 Weewerk Project Space (Toronto ON); 2004 AKA Artist Space (Saskatoon SK); 2004 Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (Middlesbrough UK); 2004 Artspeak Gallery (Vancouver BC); 2005 Albright Knox Gallery (Buffalo NY); 2005 Musee D'Art Contemporain (Montreal PQ); 2005 Center on Contemporary Art (Seattle WA); 2005 Contemporary Museum (Honolulu HI); 2005 Lisson Gallery (London UK); 2006 Chicago Cultural Center (Chicago IL); 2006 Winnipeg Art Gallery (Winnipeg MB); 2006 Third Space (St John NB); 2007 (Kinz, Tillou & Feigen (NY); 2007 The Funny Farm - Electric Eclectics Sound Festival (Meaford ON); 2007 Justina M Barnicke Gallery (Hart House) University of Toronto (Toronto ON); 2007 Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto (Mississauga ON); 2008 Cambridge Galleries (Cambridge ON); 2008 MSVU Gallery (Halifax NS); 2008 Vox Gallery (Montreal PQ); 2009 Dundee Contemporary Arts (Dundee, UK); 2010 Kenderdine Art Gallery (Saskatoon SK); 2011 Art Gallery of Windsor (Windsor ON); 2011 Saint Mary's University Art Gallery (Halifax NS); 2012 Robert McLaughlin Gallery (Oshawa ON); 2015 Owens Art Gallery (Sackville NB); 2019 The Reach (Abbotsford BC);