Artist Research

Tom Friedman

Friedmans work explores size, volume and order, creating interesting compositions and sculptures that  allow us to question the way in which we perceive everyday objects and how these objects shape our experiences of the world around us. His work demonstrates that the applications of items are ultimately unpredictable. 

Tom Friedman Untitled 1995 Toothpicks 66 x 76.2 x 58.4 cm 26 x 30 x 23"

Untitled 1996 Polystyrene tower 81.3 x 91.4 x 91.4 cm

Untitled 1997 Plastic drinking straws, bucket 45.7 x 142.2 cm

Images sourced from - http://www.saatchigallery.com/aipe/tom_friedman.htm

Allan McCollum

No Things But in Ideas:
an interview with Allan McCollum

by Robert Enright

http://allanmccollum.net/amcnet2/album/enright.html

This interview is extremely insightful and interesting, I got a lot out of reading some of the ideas behind the works of Allan McCollum,

An outsider artist that moved to New York in the late 60's, initially inspired by the idea of artist as painter, this preconception was thrown at the window soon enough.

This is one thing that he says about the dramatic aspect of his work.

"No, just I just like the dramatic starkness of the eerie, earthly settings. I always liked Donald Judd who made those incredibly stark, systematic installations of multiple similar objects. I guess I should add that I was really influenced by Allan Kaprow's tire piece; I've been influenced a lot by art that really filled the gallery. By rooms that are filled to the brim. With my feelings about the "abundance effect" it was a natural thing. 

 I tried to create the feeling of there being a surplus of objects, and to me that's dramatic in the same way that box of poetry books I saw on the street was dramatic. So I've often looked for objects that satisfy the criteria of the dramatist. It's not just for effect but it's also to prove a point: that it's the stories that gives an object its context and its community value. It's always all the things we know but of which we are not at the moment thinking, to paraphrase Robert Barry."

 

http://allanmccollum.net/allanmcnyc/sculpturemagazine/dellinger_mccollum2.html

And I really liked this interview too. Allan McCollum has a lot of interesting things to say! 

Allan McCollum, Shapes from Maine, 2005/2009. Installation: Friedrich Petzel Gallery, 2009.

I really love this wall display of multiples, this varies from our project slight.. he is taking an intrinsic quality from an aspect of life and multiplying it over and over. What I'm really drawn to is the effect of varying frame sizes I'm not sure why but I think it makes it far more interesting. I love this artist, so interesting, the way he samples life and makes commentary is just great.