Extrusions & Specimens
“Extrusions” and “Specimens”, 1988-89
Extrusions: Burlap and asphalt tar over wire mesh Specimens: Asphalt tar over Styrofoam Variable dimensions Collection of the artist With these two bodies of work, the Extrusions and the Specimens, I continued to explore organic abstraction with non-art materials. What references one perceives in the individual pieces depends in part on individual mindset, as various viewers have told me the forms themselves suggest slugs, eggs, seeds, beans or excrement. These objects capture a sense of movement or transition, either toward growth or entropy. The petroleum asphalt surface of these pieces has juicy quality, with varying levels of shine and dullness based on their age and room temperature. When they were freshly completed, they had quite a strong chemical smell, which has dissipated over time. Initially, the surface was very soft and even runny, never drying or fully curing in the way that a lacquered surface will harden. That aspect in turn created an odd experience for viewers, that is, the asphalt surface was very inviting to the touch, though unforgiving when touched. Shown during a memorable open-studio walk event in Chicago, unsuspecting viewers were attracted to the black shiny surface that remotely suggested cake frosting, and though displayed with signage that said, “Do Not Touch,” a number of viewers found them irresistible or simply disregarded the signage. The heat of touch activated the surface, melting it. An artwork left its mark on a toucher—a sticky, black, staining, foul-smelling daub on eager, uncontrollable fingers. For the Corner Extrusion and the Specimens, I pushed the entropy idea with the materials. I had used Styrofoam and foam rubber as the inner structural form for sculptures, and with this group I began using asphalt tar as a surface treatment, in the form commercial available as roofing tar, directly onto a carved Styrofoam shape. The asphalt has as its base crude petroleum and to be spreadable at the consistency of molasses it is thinned chemically with solvents. Those solvents attacked the Styrofoam core of the Specimen form, eating into the form and creating new textures, crevices and distortions. For the Extrusions, I dipped burlap strips into glue to cover the wire-mesh structure and then painted the finished work with asphalt tar. |
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