Metal Fucking Rats and Such

Wow! I'm so behind on my blogging!  I had better get a grip before it gets out of hand.  Did I mention that I have been in the process of moving for the last week.  Not surprisingly, that takes a bit of time and energy. And I was buying a house is also a time suck, But blogging! Okay.

Went on Artsy just now a found an amazing piece of work. Right up my alley, extremely tedious and leaves everyone with a sense on awe and "man I wish I would have thought of that".

Tim Nobel and Sue Webster  Self-Imposed Misery, 2010 Wooden stepladder, discarded wood, light projector 88 ^1/5 x 30 ^9/10 x 158 ^9/10 in 224 x 78.5 x 403.5 cm

This particular work of art is actually a self portrait of Tim Nobel.  At first glance it appears to be just a simple silhouette, but after zooming on this amazing piece of work I noticed just how detailed the artist were able to make the shadow figures.  It is especially apparent in the "clothing" and Tim's shadows "hair".  I also like the title of Self-Imposed Misery because it includes the word 'self' in a work that is a self portrait.  I think It also says a lot when you make a self portrait out of garbage and discarded materials and then use then use the work misery in the title.  I feel like some days I can really relate to that.  I might be reading waaayy to much into it, but since so much of Tim and Sue's work contains a sexual theme I might not be to far off base to comment on the flaccid phallic nature of the object closest to the projector. 

Tim Noble and Sue Webster have been collaborating since the late 1980's and are known for their sculptures that incorporate light and shadow.  Their materials often include house house items, garbage, scrap metal and even taxidermy.  They also work with light sculptures that resemble store-front signage or carnival lights.  There work is fascinating in that it turns abstract forms back into figurative forms. Some of their themes include: love and hate, high culture and anti-culture, and the way people attach meaning to images. After viewing several of their pieces it seems like the two artists often choose to depict some of the seedier, less glamorous, raw, taboo aspects of being human.   Here are some fascinating and awesome examples:

                                         Metal Fucking Rats 2006

                                                 Dirty White Trash (With Gulls) 1998

                                                  HE/SHE 2003

I saw a version of this last image where Sue's image was actually vacating her bladder, but without the stream of water you can infer other things....the mind just goes where ever it wants with these artist pieces;  often its not to a very socially acceptable place.  Powerful work in that sense.