Mark Jenkins American artist Country: USA

1. Biography of Mark Jenkins
2. Early Life and Career
3. The Embed Series
4. Activism and Street Art

Biography of Mark Jenkins

Mark Jenkins, an American artist, is best known for his street art installations created using transparent packaging tape and adhesive tape. His creations successfully interact with the surrounding environment, including passersby, who unwittingly become participants in the creative process. Jenkins' installations often attract attention from vigilant police officers who usually do not understand street art in any of its forms.

Early Life and Career

Mark Jenkins was born in 1970 in Alexandria, Virginia. He began experimenting with tape in 2003 while living in Rio de Janeiro. Jenkins learned how to make casts of various objects, including himself. His first completed series was exhibited on the streets of Rio de Janeiro. The artist was highly interested in people's reactions, considering his project as a social art experiment.

In 2004, Jenkins returned to Washington, DC, and a year later, he started working with Sandra Fernandez on the "Storker Project." This project involved creating a series of baby sculptures made from adhesive tape, which were then scattered in different cities to blend in with the surroundings. Jenkins continued collaborating with Fernandez, and together they invented an animal series featuring dogs rummaging through trash, giraffes nibbling on plastic bags hanging from trees, and ducks swimming in puddles.

The Embed Series

In 2006, Jenkins embarked on the "Embed Series." He equipped hyperrealistic sculptures, including casts of himself and Fernandez, with clothing and enjoyed the reactions from the public. He also started wrapping his installations in newspapers and using cement. Depending on the chosen "film scene" by Jenkins, some passersby would even call 911, others would summon the police, and some would call local rescuers. At this stage of his career, Mark attracted global media attention.

Activism and Street Art

Jenkins joined a Greenpeace campaign called "Plight of the Polar Bears" aimed at highlighting the plight of polar bears due to the melting Arctic ice. As part of this project, he created realistic figures of homeless people with plush bear heads. In 2007, with his "Traffic-Go-Round" project, the artist transformed road signs into unusual carousels, using tape-made horses. They were attached to poles so that their faces looked directly at oncoming traffic. Passing drivers felt as if the horses were galloping past them.

Regarding illegal street art during an interview in 2005, Jenkins stated, "I think my point of view is that visual bursts are needed to stimulate the environment. However, unfortunately, all the visual content that is constantly updated is commercial advertising. That's why the ephemeral nature of street art is so important. It creates a visual pulsation in the city from the people who live in it, not some marketing effect. And what do they do with such works in the city? They remove them as quickly as possible and even threaten to imprison those who made them."