process and inquiry | Tim Hawkinson
Wide open.
No tricks.
Completely exposed.
Thursday (August 18) was a day to be blown away by the work of two talented men---visual artist Tim Hawkinson, and theater artist Scott Kelman. As I made my way from my studio (downtown), to pick up some art, to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, to Electric Lodge in Venice, I saw the day build in terms of shimmering brilliance and inspiration. Picking up my work was the least inspiring event of the day.
First Tim Hawkinson.
I was lucky to have seen an installation of Tim Hawkinson's at Mass MOCA in 2000 called Uberorgan, a massive, goofy, jury-rigged reed organ. Inflating and deflating enormous "lungs" filled the cavernous industrial space-turned-gallery. Machinery and mechanics were exposed. [For a look-see, check out this abbreviated description, making sure to scroll down near the bottom of the page.]
At LACMA some of Hawkinson's "greatest hits" were on the walls, although there was not nearly enough space to reprise Uberorgan. Too bad. The "musical" (percussion) piece at the entry, while playful and entertaining, didn't seem to carry out the inquiry I saw in Hawkinson's process. Here is what I think he is up to:
INQUIRY
What am I? --or-- What is that?
How do I function? --or-- How does that function?
How do I see and describe myself? --or--
How do I recreate, imply, and/or explore that (and its implications)?
EXPLORATION
Consider a thing, a form of perception, a mechanical thing, an aspect of the body, etc.
Then create a system and/or a machine to recreate, expose, manipulate and/or explore that thing.
OUTCOME
An artwork.
EXPOSURE
The intelligence, play, obsessiveness, rigor, and complete absence of finish-fetish were amazing. The work was junky. Rough. It set its agenda and followed through. It was not about beauty. It was, oddly, about a form of truth. Nothing unnecessary was added. Everything was stripped down to its essence. Mechanics and motors were visible. Extension cords were part of the installation (and some really good artworks were made of extension cords).
MASTERFUL work.
just a couple of examples----
"Clocks." You would probably walk right by a hairbrush, a manilla envelope, or a Coke can. Each of these was insanely engineered to be a clock. Two tiny hairs on the hairbrush told the time. The two sides of a metal clasp on the envelope also moved around and told the time. The Coke can's pop top. And so on.
"Shorts." Much of Hawkinson's work requires electricity. All the extension cords were exposed and out in the open, moving through the entire show. An orange extension cord crocheted into a pair of shorts? (!!!)
"Signature." A machine cobbled together painstakingly writes Tim Hawkinson's signature and then cuts the paper. A huge heap of these slips of paper with signatures mounds next to the piece. This piece in itself is worth the price of admission.
Tired now
I'll get to Scott tomorrow.
No tricks.
Completely exposed.
Thursday (August 18) was a day to be blown away by the work of two talented men---visual artist Tim Hawkinson, and theater artist Scott Kelman. As I made my way from my studio (downtown), to pick up some art, to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, to Electric Lodge in Venice, I saw the day build in terms of shimmering brilliance and inspiration. Picking up my work was the least inspiring event of the day.
First Tim Hawkinson.
I was lucky to have seen an installation of Tim Hawkinson's at Mass MOCA in 2000 called Uberorgan, a massive, goofy, jury-rigged reed organ. Inflating and deflating enormous "lungs" filled the cavernous industrial space-turned-gallery. Machinery and mechanics were exposed. [For a look-see, check out this abbreviated description, making sure to scroll down near the bottom of the page.]
At LACMA some of Hawkinson's "greatest hits" were on the walls, although there was not nearly enough space to reprise Uberorgan. Too bad. The "musical" (percussion) piece at the entry, while playful and entertaining, didn't seem to carry out the inquiry I saw in Hawkinson's process. Here is what I think he is up to:
INQUIRY
What am I? --or-- What is that?
How do I function? --or-- How does that function?
How do I see and describe myself? --or--
How do I recreate, imply, and/or explore that (and its implications)?
EXPLORATION
Consider a thing, a form of perception, a mechanical thing, an aspect of the body, etc.
Then create a system and/or a machine to recreate, expose, manipulate and/or explore that thing.
OUTCOME
An artwork.
EXPOSURE
The intelligence, play, obsessiveness, rigor, and complete absence of finish-fetish were amazing. The work was junky. Rough. It set its agenda and followed through. It was not about beauty. It was, oddly, about a form of truth. Nothing unnecessary was added. Everything was stripped down to its essence. Mechanics and motors were visible. Extension cords were part of the installation (and some really good artworks were made of extension cords).
MASTERFUL work.
just a couple of examples----
"Clocks." You would probably walk right by a hairbrush, a manilla envelope, or a Coke can. Each of these was insanely engineered to be a clock. Two tiny hairs on the hairbrush told the time. The two sides of a metal clasp on the envelope also moved around and told the time. The Coke can's pop top. And so on.
"Shorts." Much of Hawkinson's work requires electricity. All the extension cords were exposed and out in the open, moving through the entire show. An orange extension cord crocheted into a pair of shorts? (!!!)
"Signature." A machine cobbled together painstakingly writes Tim Hawkinson's signature and then cuts the paper. A huge heap of these slips of paper with signatures mounds next to the piece. This piece in itself is worth the price of admission.
Tired now
I'll get to Scott tomorrow.
posted by laurelpaley at 12:00 AM
2 Comments:
Now, that's good writing. Leaves the reader wanting to go and see what you've tantalizingly described...
Take a look at (at least what I'm guessing is) Hawkinson's process, especially in relation to your comment posted on "reveal," above, regarding the intention of an artwork.
Hawkinson strips the artworks down so as to reveal that process, constantly and ongoingly. His process is about uncovering processes—of perception, of belief, of artmaking. The outcome, at its best, is the experience of magic and enchantment, the blowing away of expectations, and the new experience of depth and mystery in life.
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