Tag: Sculpture

Posted on

On This Site Stood

Artist Norm Magnusson has been creating cast aluminum sculptures in the style of classic historical markers, but focused on contemporary issues.

Nm

Taking observations that may once have been chilling but by now have become old news, and casting them in metal as if they were some kind of official state declaration somehow makes them affect one all over again, like this one did me:

ON THIS SITE STOOD RY BRAUER, TYPICAL AMERICAN TEEN. BY THE AGE OF 18, HE HAD WITNESSED OVER 30,000 MURDERS ON TV

Others focus on institutions that “once stood,” rather than on individuals:

Nm02

Posted on

San Francisco in Jell-O

Hickock1 Liz Hickok creates scale models of San Francisco cityscapes, then uses the models to create Jell-O molds by the hundreds. The Jell-O cityscapes are lit and filled to perfection, wanting only a giant dollop of Cool Whip (which is itself “a delicious blend of sugar, wax, and condom lube”).

Similar to making a movie set, I add backdrops, which I often paint, and elements such as mountains or trees, and then I dramatically light the scenes from the back or underneath. The Jell-O sculptures quickly decay, leaving the photographs and video as the remains.

The labor involved in creating these must be intensive. The results strike me as super-saturated, glowing representations both of SF’s jellified undercarriage and its playful surface life. The molds later become art objects themselves.

Music: Mr. Smolin :: Face The World