DREW M SLICKMEYER
“When you need encouragement, think of the qualities the people around you have: this one’s energy, that one’s modesty, another’s generosity, and so on. Nothing is as encouraging as when virtues are visibly embodied in the people around us, when we’re practically showered with them.
It’s good to keep this in mind.”
Keep scrolling until you can’t
Arrow Chair
***Free Chair***
From Drew:
***Free Chair*** was the resulting expression that I felt reinforced the central theme of my body of work as it potentially culminated in what I found to be a wonderfully funny scenario: an empty pedestal presented as “art.” Once the chair is removed by the brave patron, it performs this secondary mission of feeding into common complaints and misconceptions about the absurdity of modern and conceptual art, Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian3 being the most recent and glaring example that comes to my mind.
***Sex Table***
“Sex Table was continually the most discussed and debated piece throughout my committee meetings, most of the discussion revolving around whether the title was enough to carry the piece. I weighed the idea of additional elements for a significant period, deciding finally a week or so before showing the work that I would rely solely on the title for execution of the joke. The success of Sex Table relies heavily on the viewer, their mental elasticity, and the way in which their mind is wired to think about sex. Sex Table could just as easily be titled Murder Table or Birthing Table. The goal, of getting people to invoke the vision of a particular act in their minds, would remain the same. It is the opinion of the maker that “sex” best fits the theme of the larger body of work. On top of envisioning the sex act, it becomes just as interesting who is envisioned performing the act, as well as which of the many variations of the act are chosen, though this information remains private with each individual viewer. At the very least, I would like viewers questioning why this plain table earned or was given the name ‘sex table.’”
“Drew,
Sex table is a mast piece, the committee meeting was controversial because each of them has their sex table in their mind, so naturally, they worried if the work can precedes the name. Which is such a rebel,
WHO REGULATED TITLE CANNOT BE THE MAIN COURSE.”
***Painted Stool***
I mentioned artistic practice at the beginning of this section. Painted Stool became as close to artistic practice as I have ever knowingly executed, and I am constantly reminded of On Kawara’s “daily labor” in executing his “Today” series of paintings (Woo, Jung-Ah 65) when I think of the idea of artistic practice and my similar (though obviously comparatively abbreviated) attempts. Coming in every day and executing a task in service of a single piece (or body) of work over an extended period is what I think makes up the foundation of ,turntablebenchtopcolorssolid artistic practice. In this instance I quickly developed a process that facilitated every aspect of the act of painting this stool. I dedicated an entire bench top to the painting process. I built a turn table to easily access the entire piece during painting. I began mixing 10-12 colors at a time to ensure I was varying color as much as possible. My very first task upon arriving in the studio was to take 10 minutes and paint the stool. There were colors that required a second coat to achieve full coverage, and this was applied roughly an hour after the first coat. I then thoroughly washed my brush, the same brush I used for all 116 coats of paint. It was only after I completed this task would I then begin my day in the studio.
Labor
“The decision to paint the stool an indefinite number of times also cemented the idea of
incorporating the printed list of color names. I had initially been recording the names and days
of application of each layer of paint, then as I began to mix a custom color for each layer, I
moved to trying to match them to color samples I was collecting from large home improvement
stores and paint suppliers. ”
“To Drew,
Somehow this stool questions the Industrialization/standard process of modern furniture.
One step further or one coat more, Trash/Art”
trash/art
Drew M. Slickmeyer
a furniture maker, designer, and interdisciplinary artist currently making a living somewhere in the vast wilderness of Providence, Rhode Island.