Charles Ray. Tabletop. 1989.Wood table with ceramic plate, metal canister, plastic bowl, plastic tumbler,
aluminum shaker, terra-cotta pot, plant, and motors. 43 x 52 1/2 x 35".
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. ©Charles Ray
Firetruck1993
Painted aluminum, fiberglass
12 ft. x 8 ft. x 46 ft. 1/2 in.; 366 x 244 x 1407 cm
Bio:
Charles Ray describes his life as a "a peanut butter sandwich that you squashed across the tabletop." His artwork is a part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern art in New York and has won a fellowship from the National Endowment of the Arts. He was a part of the 1995 Whitney Biennial and then had a retrospective at the Whitney in 1998. Ray receives many awards and fellowships but seems to be lacking confidence and passion. Ray has a laid back attitude and feels average amongst other artists.
Relation to my work:
At first look at Charles Ray's work, there seems to be very little to relate between his work and my own. I find the similarities in our work from the type of work we make. A lot of work that Ray creates is based on trying to understand what is strange or off with each sculpture. Ray makes work that is about being present. Ray tries to create a "present relationship" with his viewers. I think that Ray shows his audience commonplace objects and makes you question why you are looking at a table top or clock. I want to have people have this experience while viewing my work. I want there to be a question of what is real/normal vs. fabricated.
2 Quotes:
"Ray is mischievous, but not sadistic. He calibrates each situation only enough to disrupt people's complacency, not their lives."
"Marketing experts typically spice up their products and then offer them in a conceptually predigested form so that they can be gulped down before attention is diverted to a competing stimulus. In contrast, Ray's work is made for slow savoring."
- Weintraub
Links:
works cited:
Weintraub, Linda. In the Making: Creative Options for Contemporary Art. New York: D.A.P./Distributed Art, 2003. Print.
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