it's funny how some things do remain

It's time to ask another age-old question.
What could be better than...

A
GIANT
PIECE
OF
CAKE
? !


Probably nothing. But that's what Claes Oldenburg is all about -- creating works of ultimate indulgence. Like other pop art, Oldenberg's work (in conjunction with his calloborations with wife and sculptor Coosje van Bruggen), is based around the idea of decontextualizing easily recognized objects with strong associations.

Unlike some other pop artists, Oldenburg is famous for making giant sculptures of basic, everyday items, not just specific consumer-obsessed brand products (take Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans, for instance). In a way, his pieces are more ridiculous than that of some other pop artists. The pieces are not terribly realistic looking so much as strange and banally simplified.

There is definite humor to Oldenburg's work. Though brand-free, each of the objects he recreates are ones with close human and cultural associations. He takes the most seemingly ordinary objects and foods and makes them huge. Take his 45ft tall clothespin. While clothespins are generally regarded as mundane and harmless, Oldenburg presents it as a huge somewhat daunting beacon. The clothespin is a mighty hero towering over Philadelphia. That's funny, right?

Oldenburg's materials are pretty strange as well. He made a number of so-called "soft sculptures" that are pretty much what their names imply; instead of being made out of hard, solid materials like the clothespin, many of Oldenburg's pieces are made primarily from soft vinyls. This contributes a certain fleshy feel to the pieces, not to mention certain sexual overtones. In that way, he strips objects of their normal implications and inserts others that we (ideally) only apply to other people.


So what does it mean to have a huge (perhaps sexual), grimy hamburger that resembles something of an old crumpled happy meal? I don't know, but I want to eat it.

photo credit:
top left: Claes Oldenburg, Floor Cake, mixed media, 60" x 9" x 48," 1962
top right: Claes Oldenburg, Clothespin, cor-ten and stainless steel, 1962
center: Claus Oldenburg, Floor Burger, canvas, foam, rubber, 52" x 84," 1962

you could ignore dang cartoons, and you wouldn't turn into prey

If I took 4 tabs of acid,

I would hope to end up in front of a Fred Tomaselli piece.

Fred Tomaselli's paintings collage prescription pills, hallucinogenic plants, herbs, and leaves with repeated images of bugs, butterflies, flower, and various segmented body parts. These separate bits are then placed in swirling patterns spread over the huge wood surfaces. Once collaged, the pieces are covered in a thick layer of clear epoxy resin.

There are common themes in Tomaselli's work. Most of his pieces portray one or more of the following four images: birds, human bodies, trees/flowers, and one of two types of designs -- one resembles loopy tangles of colorful noodles and the other something you might make using Spirograph. But the way that Tomaselli illustrates these subjects is, to be blunt, strange. Each of his pieces are at once provocative, graphic, and, in my opinion, just plain pretty.

What I love most about Tomaselli's work is the attention and seriousness it demands. Whether struck by his use of a melting face with 15+ eyes, colorful psychedelic paisley, or the elaborate muscle tissue created inside of his figures, it's hard to not endlessly stare at these paintings. And they are rather dark, too. While the Tomaselli's patterns are no doubt beautiful and intricate, they appear to virtually infest the pieces and their residing characters. There is a sense of uncontrollable viral diffusion, reflected particularly by the vibrant medley of drugs in each work. The characters are alone in dark expanses, falling, looking out, lost in their environments of diseased chaos.

Tomaselli said, "I want people to get lost in the work. I want to seduce people into it and I want people to escape inside the world of the work" (artinfo).

I'm there.

photo credit:
top: Fred Tomaselli, Hang Over, 2005, leaves, pills, acrylic and resin on wood panel, 84 x 120 inches, Courtesy James Cohan Gallery
left: Fred Tomaselli, Organism, (2005). Mixed media, photo-collage, acrylic, gouache, resin on wood panel painting, 99 x 77 inches
right: Fred Tomaselli, Big Bird, 2004, Mixed media and resin on wood panel, 48 x 48 in, Courtesy White Cube

get in solid walls with the know-it-alls

"Photography is about freezing a moment in time; McGinley's is about freezing a stage in a lifetime. Young and beautiful is as fleeting as a camera snap--and thus all the more worth preserving." - Jeffrey Kluger, TIME

There are lots of reasons to admire Ryan McGinley. For starters, his life appears to be extremely glamorous. He is always surrounded by gorgeous, naked people. He runs, skips, and jumps through open fields, cliffs over water, and atop abandoned buildings. And he was best friends with Dash Snow. And he explores caves. And he still uses film. Oh, and did I mention he's young and talented? McGinley had a solo show at the Whitney at the age of 25.

McGinley is an interesting man to look up to. He's the type of guy who your parents probably don't want you hanging out with, but you think he's the coolest anyway.

For the most part, McGinely takes photographs based on his real-life experiences and friends. In doing so, he captures a glorious pocket of young, New York subculture, drug-infused, active, hazy, raw, and impossibly beautiful. Virtually all of his photographs are centered around one or more charismatic nude subjects posing in a provocative but seemingly real way. Though many of the works appear to be rather candid, McGinley's subjects are indeed posing. Very aware of the camera and all of its implications, the subjects openly interact with the photographer, exhibiting their bodies, tattoos, scars, ugliest and prettiest faces in pretty bizarre (but gorgeous) of places. Both McGinley and his subjects are upfront in the pictures. He shows it how it is: people are sexual; they do drugs; they write graffiti; some of them are gay.

And he's not just documenting these things. Unlike some other photographers whose work is purely voyeuristic and/or of a photojournalistic nature, McGinley is living (and loving) this lifestyle. This is what makes him so appealing: his photos are of the sincerest nature, giving a true vision into his subculture, social functioning, and spontaneity.

McGinley is certainly not the first to do this. His works clearly reference Nan Goldin, who began to take photographs of a similar nature 3o years earlier. The major difference in the two artists' work is that while Goldin's photographs are marked with extreme sadness and guilt, McGinley's photographs are triumphant and celebratory. He takes situations and people that may not conventionally be considered attractive, and makes them utterly irresistible and perfectly enchanting.

In a sense, McGinley is paying homage to the gods of alternative culture. Active youth is eternal beauty. The photos speak to me in the most happy-go-lucky hazy soft of way. "Be young! Be free! Be true! Make silly decisions and look great while doing it! It will be alright. It will be beautiful."

photo credit:
top center: Jonas (Shining Soft), 2008 / 2009
top right: Kiss Explosion, 2005
left: Jake, Ocean. 2005
bottom right: Laura, 2007
all courtesy of the artist's website

sleight of hand and daring feats

In 2004, Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power formed Fuck Buttons with the goal of creating pain-inducing noise music.
They soon, however, became interested in combining pretty sounds with the harsher ones, adding more structure and melody to their songs. Hung and Power combine a number of makeshift synthesizers (remember the Fisher Price karaoke machine?), casiotone keyboards, mixers, hand held instruments, and distorted microphones to create their music. The result is something between gorgeous and terrifying.

Timing is of utmost importance for Fuck Buttons. Unlike some other noise groups, they're not afraid to let a beat drone on forever or to play a pedal loop for 10 minutes straight. While more traditional sound artists (let's take "traditional" with a grain of salt here) may worry about loops going for too long, Fuck Buttons intentionally drones on forever. The duo is clearly interested in what happens when they just let sounds ride out indefinitely, allowing their songs to go on just past an expected point before reaching a sudden switch. The music thus constantly builds upon itself while adding a considerable amount of tension for the listeners.

This is what I love most about Fuck Buttons: they are constantly messing with their listeners. The music incorporates complete predictability in its loops but forces listeners to be patient and expect an abstract unexpected. Listeners are pulled in and hooked through the entrancing rhythms and made intentionally uncomfortable at the same time. This creates an interesting relationship between musician and listener, one that almost could be compared to that of master/slave. Overall, the band reclaims what is sound, what is beautiful, what is pain, and what is pleasure.

Above is a video of Fuck Buttons performing their song Ribs Out from their first full length album, Street Horrrsing.

Photo/video credit:
top photo: taken from Stereo Jealousy
top video: Fuck Buttons, Surf Solar, 2009 courtesy of youtube
bottom video: Fuck Buttons performing Ribs Out, April 7, 2008 at the Club Downunder in Tallahassee, FL, courtesy of youtube.