he's a genius

Tim Hawkinson Originally uploaded by dressform.

Tim Hawkinson that is (my mom said this a few times as we walked through the show together. it is much cuter when she says it as she is 5 feet tall and kawaii). I saw so much good art in LA that i will have to talk about it in stages (if i didn't this would be the longest blog post in history - i exaggerate, but you'd stop reading at least).

mr. hawkinson's show was at LA County Museum . there are more images (and explanations) of his work here . he's a wacky fellow alright - but we are so lucky that he is. i love the immediate connections to music, to his own body, to making clunky and yet amazingly technically proficient devices... smart, clever, aesthetically considered, conceptually inclined AND funny (a skeleton made of dog chew raw hides that sort of jiggled as the slide whistle in it would intermittently go off... it was stashed behind another major piece...) there were long long colored sturdy extention cords that literally connected all the pieces from room to room - suspended from the ceiling mimicking our circulatory system. i can't even accurately describe the feeling of wonder as i went from piece to piece (a "machine" {only in quotes because it was purposefully gawky - nails and scrap wood and a bic pen} that signed his name - over and over onto white receipt paper - a blade cutting each one after its completion. a big pile of them on the floor... the artist signature faked, over-exposed, discarded). initially simply taking in what i saw directly in front of me... then to the card where the next layer is revealed (the materials, the art historical reference, the technical creation of the piece). to borrow a phrase from the countess - he's a badass!

to briefly fill you in on the rest of the trip. i ate wonderful meals with my family... we intermittently chatted about papa (i learned some things i never knew). we may have even been dealing with papa's mischievous spirit (not one to be cleaned up or re-organized he seemed to be wrecking a tiny bit of havoc. it's odd to confront something that you may or may not believe is real.... still i ended up trying to convince him (ghost? spirit? energy? fuelled by what? us? him? love? guilt? confrontation? humor?) that it was all going to be OK. that even though physcially things were being thrown out and removed there was no way he was leaving our hearts or minds).

i also went around the condo and took photos of all the "signs" and notes of his that i could find (he was a great labeler of things). they were everywhere for all different reasons... behind doors, on shelves, out in the open.... somehow to me they actually seem like art... maybe i'll put them on flickr for others to see? will anyone but me think they are funny? touching? meaningful? not sure, but something is screaming to be done with them... will ruminate on this....

stayed tuned for LA art part dos....