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.