Ohio State senior Shane Cullen will present his Bachelor of Fine Arts exit show “Indignant Apology” tonight at 7:00 p.m. in the Exposures Gallery on the second floor of the Ohio Union.

“Indignant Apology” brings to its observers a collaboration of photographic artwork that explores distortions of the human form, a short video project and a replication of abstract art through an arrangement of 16,000 Legos.

Cullen said his inspiration to work with the human form stemmed from how people tend to focus on texture.

“There was an artist once who made a cast of an inflatable bunny out of solid steel,” Cullen said.

“It looked like it weighed about two ounces, but it actually weighed two tons. In the same way, my photography has created something inhuman out of human form, but the texture is visible through skin tone, freckles and hair,” Cullen said.

Cullen’s project ideas were ignited from his interest to do something that no one has done before.

“I don’t necessarily know if it’s good or not, but I know I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said.

Jim Pilbean, the lab and gallery supervisor in Haskett Hall, described Cullen as an artist who successfully trasitioned through his artistic growth spurt.

“Shane has developed over a period of time and matured a lot in his art, which doesn’t always happen,” Pilbean said.

“He works a lot with the Photoshop program, now he’s doing Legos and expressing himself through a movie camera aspect. He also has a peculiar sense of humor which I enjoy…very brash and in your face,” he said.

This brash and unconventional sense of humor is present in the video project Cullen will display on a small television during his show.

The footage showcases Cullen with headphones on, listening to songs he doesn’t know and trying to sing the words.

Between his fanciful attempts to decipher the words to R.E.M’s “It’s the End of the World as We Know It,” and The Kink’s “Lola,” Cullen has created commercials for what he calls “uber-patriotic” people.  

The commercials offer items such as a pair of die-hard American sunglasses with one lens occupied with white stars on a blue background and the other lens with red and white stripes.

Also advertised is a patriotic doormat of the American Flag, which ironically is also available for sale at Wal-Mart.

Adam Brooks, a December 2004 graduate of OSU with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in art technology, describes Cullen’s work as “pretty varied.”

“He uses two styles, and isn’t much like other artists,” Brooks said.

“You can tell there is much more to be seen than what is actually on the wall. It’s not sterile, and you don’t have to show up here in a three-piece suit and stand in front of one picture for an hour…it’s very casual art.”