Narcotics have been the driving force behind many legendary works of art, such as the Kubla Khan, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, by Hunter S. Thompson. Tim Noble and Sue Webster have been experimenting with light and shadow their entire career. The idea of using trash as an artistic medium came to them while at a sticking point with a sculpture. Not wanting to quit work for the day, the couple piled together a group of random items lying around their studio, and flashed a spotlight on them. They were fascinated by the gestational forms that began to appear.
This was only the beginning of this experimentation. From here, the artists began collecting more garbage, taxidermy animals, and scrap metal, creating silhouettes in their own image (self-portraits). Their first rubbish sculpture, entitled, Miss Understood and Mr. Meanor, appears to be nothing more than two polls with trash fastened to the top. However, when a spotlight is cast, the resulting silhouettes are of the artists severed heads on stakes. Besides the obvious shock value of their work, the artists are exploring the assumptive brain. When we see a pile of trash, our expectations are very low. When you see the shadows come alive, it challenges your interpretation of the items value.
These projects challenge the traditional thinking of garbage. Why does an object become useless the moment it is placed within a trash can? Can beauty be resurrected through the inspiration of creation? And if you collected all the ramblings from the writers behind Urbasm, would the collected work become as tantalizing as the Kama Sutra?
We think… just maybe!
About Dr. Eric J. Leech
Eric has written for over a decade. Then one day he created Urbasm.com, a site for every guy.
About Dr. Eric J. Leech