Commonwealth and Council

SOME OF MY FRIENDS

Geoff Tuck

–
Press Release
Bird, April

Bird, April

2013

Acrylic paint, dirt, household string, envelope, orange peel
14 x 17 x 2 in
Collection of Ben Love

Book, May

Book, May

2013

Cardboard, gift-wrapping paper, scrap wood, photograph of the ground printed on shiny paper
7 x 10 x 3 in

Book, May

Book, May

Corner, January

Corner, January

2013

Recycled drawing, acrylic paint, dirt
30 x 22 x 3 in

Installation view

Installation view

Geoff Tuck and David Bell

Geoff Tuck and David Bell

Light table, May

2013
Aged wood, acrylic paint, dirt, light box, tree stump, found objects, obsidian shard, bone handle
33.25 x 50.5 x 29.25 in

The objects on the light table are ones I have picked up in the street and on sidewalks. Over the years they have been part of my life – like friends, and like the Roman Lares and Penates. In April, 2013, David Bell organized a Silent Dinner at his studio, and he invited me to decorate the long dining table he made, and to make a centerpiece for it. David later made the painted wood from that table into fence in the studio, and a gate, and a series of benches; it is now the enclosure and support for my found friends. The wood comes from a cache of century old fencing on the ranch preserve where David grew up. The tree stump was the centerpiece at that silent event, and it includes colored rocks from David’s sundial mandala at Parkfield. Ben Love loaned us the light table. The obsidian shard is a gift to me from Mark Hagen, given during a studio visit. (It’s sharp. I dripped blood on my drive home from Mark’s studio.)

The objects on the light table are ones I have picked up in the street and on sidewalks. Over the years they have been part of my life – like friends, and like the Roman Lares and Penates. In April, 2013, David Bell organized a Silent Dinner at his studio, and he invited me to decorate the long dining table he made, and to make a centerpiece for it. David later made the painted wood from that table into fence in the studio, and a gate, and a series of benches; it is now the enclosure and support for my found friends. The wood comes from a cache of century old fencing on the ranch preserve where David grew up. The tree stump was the centerpiece at that silent event, and it includes colored rocks from David’s sundial mandala at Parkfield. Ben Love loaned us the light table. The obsidian shard is a gift to me from Mark Hagen, given during a studio visit. (It’s sharp. I dripped blood on my drive home from Mark’s studio.)

Polley No. 2, February

Polley No. 2, February

2013

Acrylic paint with Parkfield dirt, envelopes and note cards, newspaper mounted on paper
34 x 23 in

Installation view

Installation view

Tree, autumn

Tree, autumn

2012

Gallen sycamore branch, acrylic paint, dirt, watercolor, found and appropriated objects, concrete paver
87 x 37 x 40 in
Collection of Commonwealth and Council

On a visit to Parkfield last summer, David Bell made a sundial using a tree stump and objects that related to each of us on the trip. As is common when a group of people are isolated for a period, it was a weekend alternating with drama and quiet and fun. Using watercolors that Pam Jorden brought along, and inspired by her playful way with them, I decorated the ground around the sundial by dripping watercolor and acrylic medium in the dirt to make a colorful mandala. At midnight on the final day, we held a ceremony dedicated to the idea of stopping time (and to extending the social moment), and we burned the sundial in our campfire. Back in Los Angeles, I found the tall branch while on a walk in my neighborhood, and I dragged it home. My husband, David, designed a structure to support it. Wanting to celebrate the generosity and courage of the sundial and of that weekend, I decorated the tree using the sun-dried dirt clods from the mandala, things I've picked up in the street, and other objects that express time and a shared experience. I found the mirror circles while dropping off clothes, art and other donations at Out of the Closet, a place where people exchange pasts for a future.

On a visit to Parkfield last summer, David Bell made a sundial using a tree stump and objects that related to each of us on the trip. As is common when a group of people are isolated for a period, it was a weekend alternating with drama and quiet and fun. Using watercolors that Pam Jorden brought along, and inspired by her playful way with them, I decorated the ground around the sundial by dripping watercolor and acrylic medium in the dirt to make a colorful mandala. At midnight on the final day, we held a ceremony dedicated to the idea of stopping time (and to extending the social moment), and we burned the sundial in our campfire. Back in Los Angeles, I found the tall branch while on a walk in my neighborhood, and I dragged it home. My husband, David, designed a structure to support it. Wanting to celebrate the generosity and courage of the sundial and of that weekend, I decorated the tree using the sun-dried dirt clods from the mandala, things I've picked up in the street, and other objects that express time and a shared experience. I found the mirror circles while dropping off clothes, art and other donations at Out of the Closet, a place where people exchange pasts for a future.