Tom Pfannerstill - From
The Street "
Artist
featured Nov 14 thru December
Mixed media wood carved and painted things found.
Join
us for a reception
Sunday, December 13, 2009
1-5 p.m. CST
Artist remarks 2 p.m.
View his artist page
The
works in the series “From the Street” are carefully crafted, carved and
painted, trompe l’oeil depictions of everyday common objects. On the
back of each piece is a description of where and when I found this
‘gift from the street’ and so, they provide a record that mirrors my
movements through time and space.
In the most obvious sense
these pieces speak to issues of commercialism and consumerism. The
objects reflect state-of-the-art-graphics; one can almost sense the
well-planned and psychologically tested schemes to sell the products.
They are a testament to the effectiveness of that marketing, after all,
someone made the decision to purchase the product before consuming it
and discarding the packaging. What happens next, though, is of greatest
interest to me. These pieces are carried away and undergo a unique
series of events that leads to their individuation.
Each of
these objects was at one time a near-perfect clone of millions of
others of it’s type. It was designed and manufactured to exacting
standards. By the time I find it, it has become a tiny study of
opposing forces; mechanical geometric precision is altered by organic
twists, bends and folds, the inherent rationality is overlaid with
elements of chance, the sparkling clean surfaces are smudged and marked
by everyday dirt, grit and grime. No two objects have exactly the same
journey , so no two are marked in exactly the same way. Each
wears a record of it’s own particular history, has become unique. It is
this difference, this particular story of this particular object that I
attempt to capture.
These works record harsh realities and the
effects of exposure to natural elements over the course of time, time
being a major consideration. The notation of where and when I found
each piece reinforces this time element. There is also a missing time
element, an implied narrative about how the object travelled from where
it originated to where I happened upon it.These objects have a life
span so to speak (if not an actuall one, at least metaphoric one), from
their production through their usefulness to their ultimate disposal.
As such, I see them as ‘memento mori’, reminders of mortality
and
the corresponding corollary ‘carpe diem’ (sieze the day).
They
are subtle reminders of the temporal nature of all things.
I
choose my subjects for a wide variety of reasons, but often because of
their sheer commonality. I like the fact that viewers know and
recognize these images-- they are some of the most famous, heavily
promoted brands. Even so, the packaging is constantly changing,
companies are continually making subtle and sometimes not so
subtle modifications. Altering layout and design, modernizing age-old
characters and typefaces, adding graphics to reflect a
temporary
promotion or a movie or product tie-in, changing proportions
and
portion sizes (drink cups are the best example of that, growing to
phenomenally large sizes, of late), using new materials like plastics
and mylars-- all these changes keep the things on the street
in a
constant state of flux-- and provide an ever-changing array of new
potential subject matter.
As time inevitably marches on and
everything, trash included, continues to change, my little pieces ‘from
the street’ will become increasingly ‘of a time.’ As the popularity of
products ebb and flow and certain products disappear altogether as
wants, needs and lifestyles change, they will become
increasingly
esoteric. They are handmade objects in a postindustrial culture, so
already they are a bit anachronistic. They are markers of a time,
though, and as such will become a tiny part of the fossil record, a
small archeological artifact. They will be a small, hold-in your-hand
object- a soild, 3-D reminder of the past-- an idea I find
strangely comforting in a world that is increasingly electronic and
virtual.
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