Paul Kos is part of the Bay Area Conceptual movement that pioneered video performance and installation art in the late sixties and early seventies. Calling himself a materials-based conceptual artist, he explores properties of various materials not traditionally associated with art and often includes a sound dimension to his work. Kos’s work often shows a slightly absurdist sense of humor which he crystallizes into memorable, smart, and funny images, something shared with that of fellow Californian Bruce Nauman. Kos works with everyday materials and video to enact a playful conceptual engagement with life and the world. He has made sculptures from salt blocks, to be licked away by cows, and has carefully microphoned melting blocks of ice. Throughout these pieces, Kos’s work uses humor to relate the stuff of life back to larger questions of temporality and spirituality.