Five Stages of Acquisition Series

(series in progress/

works created 2007-2008)

The Top 100 Art Collectors

(According to Art news Magazine),

Breaded and deep fried plush toy, plastic container, laminated labels with signature

Four Figures for Four Figures

(4) Precious Moments figurines encased in clear cast

urethane replica of 5 kilogram precious metal/silver bar

Price = Current Trade Value of Silver:

1 troy oz. = $13.68(as of 4/7/2007)

(4) X 5 kg = $8796.00

stamped and signed on back

Six Figures for (nearly) Six Figures

(6) Precious Moments figurines encased in clear plastic

replica of 1000 troy oz. precious metal/silver bar

Price = Current Value of Silver:

1 troy oz. = $13.68(as of 4/7/2007)

6000 troy oz. = $82,080.00

stamped and initialed on the back

Miscellaneous Installation and Collaboration:

Other Deep-Fried Beanie Babies:

Pompeii

Breaded and deep-fried plush

toys (3), glass container

Seafood Platter

Breaded and deep- fried plush toys (5), metal serving stand

Smothered Hope I and II

Partially breaded and deep-fried plush toys

in glass container

Lovers Caught

Breaded and deep-fried

plush toys

Deep-Fried Beanie Baby Series:

Collaborations with artist, Crissy Penuel

cast bronze and knit polyester

dimensions vary

(7 more objects in production)

Congratulations George and Dick...

faculty exhibition installation

dimensions vary

Five Stages of Acquisition installation (detail)

faculty exhibition installation

dimensions vary

For more information, contact me at: culturalcoroner@hotmail.com

Regarding Recent Deep Fried Art (below) and Plastic Ingot Art (above and left):

I have taught, curated, and worked as an artist. From these three occupational vantage points, I see the beauty and absurdity of culture and the art market. I play with the notion of low art versus high art through the use of kitsch items deemed by some to be collectable. Speculation and hyped talk of the collectability of the Ty company’s Beanie Babies © in the 1990s mimicked the insanity of the “high art” market in that artists’ careers have risen and fallen (and sometimes risen again) based on the well-timed words of a few critics and collectors. Much like candy and junk food that permeate our consumer culture, there are parallels of popular consumer culture to fine art or object collecting. For some,  consumption and collection is purely dictated by (perceived or impulsive) need. For others, collecting is based on research and speculation of a “market” (i.e. beanie baby or abstract expressionists). Yet for others, ownership gives self-worth and legacy within their caste, whether it be acquisition of a ‘millennium bear’ or a de Kooning.