SF0 / softliquidjoy / Art Creation Project

15 + 125 points

Art Creation Project by Quirk of Nature

January 9th, 2008 11:41 PM

INSTRUCTIONS: Declare something as art. Contextualize it and critique it.

Note: the artist who created this scene remains anonymous. What is presented here is a respectful documentation of the work as it was discovered.

Anonymous
Untitled Installation
2007
mixed media
9 x 7 ft.
Fairmont Park Sculpture Garden

Stasis and haste; purity and decay mingle in this sparse but rich installation. The viewer is drawn visually towards the scene by a bold mosaic of bus schedules, whose careful arrangement evokes both order and escape. The apple core on the bench corner lends a chronological tension to the tableau: one feels its owner may return to claim it at any moment, its precarious position only heightening the drama. But perhaps most compelling in this pithy assemblage is the exhausted tube of Ultrabrite toothpaste resting on the pavement, its billowy contents ejaculated into the grass. This striking element illuminates the fraught intersections of nature and commercial culture, of cleanliness and filth, of form and function.

- smaller

Ultrabrite and Cigarettes (detail)

Cap lying useless at its side, the Ultrabrite ejaculates its innards in a glowing, billowy whirl. Cigarette butts and a piece of name badge holder represent sin and identity. Like the toothpaste, one butt has crossed the line between natural and man-made worlds.

Ultrabrite with Toothbrush (detail)

The dynamic angles imply action. Perhaps the toothpaste is following its partner into the wilderness. The bristles of the toothbrush help it blend in with the chaos of the grass.

Ultrabrite Gleam (detail)

The resonance between the commercial-culture icon of "gleam" and the actual sun-glare reinforces the interplay of nature and consumerism in the outdoor installation.

Toothpaste Swirl with Dirt (detail)