We're Drunken Bantering About What's Important in Life

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The title We're Drunken Bantering About What's Important in Life reveals Grigley's fascination with how casual, sometimes intoxicated conversations can unexpectedly touch on profound existential questions. Through this work, he explores the intersection between everyday communication and deeper meaning—how philosophical contemplations emerge within relaxed social settings where inhibitions are lowered. After losing his hearing in an accident at age ten, Grigely developed a unique method of communicating and documenting his interactions with the hearing world. For this piece, Grigely arranged notes containing fragments of conversations—written exchanges between himself and others—in a colorful grid formation. These notes capture meaningful moments of human connection, ranging from humorous observations like “ We're in digestive stupor” to statements of affection such as “She loves you. ” Artist and curator Michelle Grabner describes his 2007 work as daily written exchanges on numerous small sheets of paper organized into formal rectangles of vivid colors and monochromatic fields. When decontextualized, these notes and drawings appear as random sound bites that communicate narrative interest through their handwriting and broken syntax .