Paul Slocum’s video You’re Not My Father is comprised of several reenactments of a short scene from the American television show Full House (1987–1995). Slocum recruited amateur participants through ads posted on Internet message boards and Craigslist and provided instructions on how to reshoot the scene with special attention to dialog and gestures. A musician as well as a visual artist, he creates an ominous effect in the video using sound loops, based on the scene’s original music. The work explores issues of defiance against authority, as presented by the characters, D.J. and Joey, and their different impersonators.

Paul Slocum was born in 1974. He lives and works in Dallas, Texas. He received a bachelor of computer sciences degree, summa cum laude, from University of Texas at Dallas. Slocum is director and co-owner of And/Or Gallery in Dallas, Texas, which specializes in presenting and archiving new media art. As part of the duo Tree Wave, he makes music using outdated video game and computer equipment. A selection of his exhibitions and performances includes Montage: Unmonumental Online, New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, New York (2008); Nexus Texas, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Texas (2007); TAG, The Hague, Netherlands (2006); and Deitch Projects, New York, New York (2005).

Above: Paul Slocum. You're Not My Father (video still), 2008, video, 3 min 54 sec.
This project is a 2007 commission of New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc., for Networked_Music_Review. It was made possible with funding from the New York State Music Fund, established by the New York State Attorney General at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisor.