From Ken Ohrn:
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I like this piece a lot. It has a monumental quality to it — it’s big, it’s bold, you can’t miss it, you will react to it. It invites second viewings and delivers ambiguous thoughts (to me at least).
It also has an in-your-face attitude, which is great to see in the wake of the bland and inoffensive pieces placed elsewhere by the Biennale. It speaks to several culture clashes, which is evident from the title “Trans Am Totem”, since it consists of a large tree holding up cars, those fading symbols of motordom. Or are the cars crushing down the tree? The cars are all damaged in some way, and remind me of junkyard wrecks, as befits cultural icons whose massive power beginning to decline.
The artist, Marcus Bowcott, is a lively and approachable person. To his everlasting credit, he does not use (and detests) ArtSpeak, that impenetrable jargon used by some, that baffles me and turns me away. He has an IndieGoGo campaign underway – here – to help with the costs that are still outstanding.
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Art? Aesthetics gives way to potency! Fabulous . . .
I love it. “Cars on a log” is a great (unintentional) response to the moaning over “Poodle on a stick”.
Wonder what the neighbours think of their new view.
I am somewhat bemused that our crackerjack local journos haven’t yet found a willing complainer to howl about this artwork, or it’s placement, or its size, or its colour, or lord-knows-what-else. Surely there must be someone, somewhere, who is willing to be unhappy with it. There always is.
And there’s nothing quite like public art to cleave the population into camps, and get them bickering with each other. Why, it’s a natural. Perfect tabloid fodder.