Solistalgia: a combination of the root words solacium (comfort) and algia (pain), best defined by its author as "...a form of homesickness one gets when one is still at home." Citing the term and how his generation has nothing to hold onto, young artist Benjamin Jurgensen brings together everyday objects that are highly influenced by pop culture and mass media. In Don't Ready to Die Anymore at Meat Market Gallery, Jurgensen presents a collection of these influences in bright monotone sculptures.

Either a brilliant display of art interpreting life or just the rambling manifestations of the artist, Jurgensen’s sculptures are highly fascinating for, at least, their use of material. Predominantly made from medium density fiberboard, Jurgensen layers sheets of the common material to carve out shapes of everyday objects, such as flashlights, bikes, wine bottles, lamps and air compressors. The objects are so close to reality that they look like the real thing, only covered in thick layers of paint. He arranges the objects in hodge-podge, unwieldy vignettes painted all one color. He then bestows wordy titles that need to be shortened to just their color for a name. And just like the randomness of the Internet and what the masses deem popular or interesting, Jurgensen's sculptures are reflective of what he is interested in and attracted to.

One piece, titled the new white flight flat packs, propelling expectations of hover parents, affectionless, despondent, twenty-two and never free, or tan, consists of arbitrary household objects such as a flashlight, a carving board with a knife stuck into it, and an avocado. A floor lamp leans on its side across these objects with the weight of its “head” resting on a nightstand. The drawer of the nightstand is open and a piece of poop is in the drawer. A real book called Fibromyalgia for Dummies is propped against the nightstand. The familiarity of the objects makes the sprawling piece surprisingly intimate and sad, making one wonder about the artist's home life.

Two of the smallest pieces in the show memorialize Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls. Since the two stars are oft-remembered through air brushed t-shirts, Jurgensen created air compressors and airbrush guns in his own attempt to pay homage to the rappers. nine fourteen ninety-six, above the rim on vhs served as reference, or platinum, (pictured right) consists of an air compressor that sits on a limestone slab with a gray bandanna wrapped around it. life after death, ninety-six, woulda been fine had puff daddy been a better father figure, or gold, (pictured above) is very similar to platinum, complete with an air compressor positioned on a padded pedestal and a costume crown decorated with plastic jewels hanging from it. The colors of the pieces represent the artists’ achievement in record sales and despite their color are subtle due to their size. The use of limestone and overall shape recall other memorials to the dead, but the pieces don’t seem to live up to the cult-like fame that the two still receive after death.

The majority of Jurgensen's work seems so random that it is hard to understand the relationship of the objects within the sculptures. Once the reference is noted, the sculptures start to make some sense and start to gel. One of the largest pieces in the show and boasting the longest title, put we to your ear and hear yesteryear's ocean, mute affairs, mortarboards, merman graduate shit, this is just future love like water dripping down her inner thigh, teardrops as diluted thoughts filtered through the mainstream, twenty thing-a-ma-bobs, treasure troves, spear-fishing, love's fragile future only safe speaking through cartoon thought bubbles and coral thieves, lured into the deepest oceans of fantasy, flipping fins, marquees wash up on shore, legs required in the seas of change, reprimanded daughters, breathing the same air, just done differently, or aqua, (pictured top) is a mash up of objects found in both The Little Mermaid and The Graduate. The long-winded sculpture without this reference would continue to be an odd compilation of coral growths, a trident, spear gun, bottles, a TV and a cinder block. With this information, it makes more sense that these objects are grouped together.

Aqua, as a whole, is fairly organic despite its many angles and jarring color (derived from an exact digital match from the pool in The Graduate). The dynamic piece has a pair of flippers flung over a beam, which is unattached and could easily make the sculpture kinetic if pushed. Above the sculpture is a video loop entitled Solastalgia. The video displays scenes from the two films superimposed on top of one another, providing an interesting addition to the sculpture below it. Jurgensen chose these two movies both for their juxtaposition and their similarities as coming of age stories.

In addition to the sculptural elements the show will launch a web-based project found at Don't Ready to Die Anymore, which, as it notes, is a little behind schedule. The site will be a random image generator that will create a complicated system of relationships between image and text. Asked what inspires him, Jurgensen named the Internet and "things that I'm into. I'm a product of my generation. It is all I can do and feel honest about."

Images courtesy of the gallery.

Don't Ready to Die Anymore is on display now through May 31 at Meat Market Gallery. The gallery is located at 1636 17th Street NW and is open Wednesday through Saturday from 12 to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 12 to 3 p.m.