My favorite grow-your-own art project was Patrick Holderfield’s in the 1990s. Without interrupting the processes of decay, he made rugs and chairs from plastic tubes filled with rotting food. (No visuals of them anywhere on the Web.)
Artists who insist on posting only current work on their Web sites miss the opportunity for their work to be considered across their careers. Some spit on that opportunity. They want their old work to disappear from this earth. It’s the new them that interests them. Requests for images from critics who want to look backward will be ignored.
Ignored is not the worst option. Was it something I said? After I noted on this blog that Holderfield’s Web site would not release images into the image stream, Holderfield shut it down entirely. I hope it was a coincidence. At least reproductions of old work could be seen. Now there’s only the small version of what’s current at the artist’s gallery.
Holderfield’s rugs and chairs slimed their way out existence with a magnificent stink, which can’t be said for Allison Kudla’s experiments in a similar vein.
Her delicate wallpaper continues to evolve, as do her tiles.
Kudla recently got a Gap Grant from Artist Trust. For a list with links to recipients’ work, go here.
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