(The High Five Project), 2025
(Made with Rex Delafkaran)
MATERIALS
INKJET PRINTS, VIDEOS,
WRITING
& ROAD TRIP SOUVENIRS
PERFORMANCE
MAY 27TH - 31ST, 2025
In the summer of 2025, my friend, Rex and I decided to drive from Chicago, Illinois to Southern California to visit both of our families. Using the Great American Road Trip as a vehicle for dérive-art, we wandered somewhat-aimlessly in the Southwest for four days sightseeing, collecting souvenirs, and writing before arriving to Los Angeles. Every time we stopped the car (for gas, food, or sleep), we performed and documented the same act of high fiving each other.
The following work is a collaborative collection that documents a specific kind of temporary intimacy, as well as a universal act of friendship.
Video Compilation:
Souvenirs & Notes:
Our (Rough) Road Trip Map
On average, driving from Chicago to Los Angeles using mostly Route 66 takes about 30 hours. But since Rex and I attempted to dérive and forage art materials along the way, we decided to take our time, filling our route with random detours, public artworks, boot stores, and national parks—mostly in the American Southwest. By the time we arrived in California, our trip had taken a total of four days.A Pack of Marlboro Golds & a Buc-ee’s Lighter
Missouri is known as one of the cheapest states for purchasing cigarettes. Every time I’ve taken a road trip that passed through the Show-Me State, I’ve bought a pack of Marlboros from the same gas station just outside St. Louis. After Rex and I discovered that we smoke the same brand, we decided to split a pack for the trip. Three hours after leaving St. Louis, we realized that neither of us had a lighter, so we stopped at a Buc-ee’s in Springfield to buy one. The Buc-ee’s lighter is still the one I use to date.Banjo Pin
We meandered into Oklahoma City, tired and delirious, at around 2 a.m., and chose the closest hotel to stay for the night. When we woke up and prepared to continue driving, we learned that the American Banjo Museum was only two blocks away from our hotel. Visiting the museum turned out to be one of the highlights of our trip, and we hadn’t even known it existed. After admiring some of our country heroes’ signature instruments, we picked up free postcards, purchased a souvenir each, and headed toward Texas.The Rusty Vail Band Demos CD
By the time we arrived at Rex’s mom’s house in Orange County, it was 1 am. Rex had brought some CDs for the trip, but we never ended up playing them because, during our journey, we discovered several overlaps in the music we enjoy and were constantly making new mixtapes on Spotify and Apple Music to sing along to together, including every song with “California” in the title, every cover of “House of the Rising Sun,” and Carole King’s “Tapestry” on repeat. Before parting ways, Rex gave me a CD of her mom’s band to listen to on the drive to my mom’s house. Rusty Vail encapsulates much of the romance of Californian culture that Rex and I love about the state we’ve both called home.