Friedmans

So I thought that since we are reading something written the journalist Thomas L. Friedman it would be appropriate to show some work by Tom Friedman, the artist. Tom Friedman is an American contemporary artist who works primarily with mundane materials transforming them to create something curious, unexpected or simply astonishing. The majority of his work is almost painfully labor intensive and it really gives you a new sense of the potential of simple ordinary materials.

Self portrait carved from aspirin

Signing his name repeatedly with a pen until it ran out of ink

Pill capsule filled with tiny balls of play dough

1 lb spaghetti dried and attached end to end in a loop

1 continuously shaved pencil

toothpicks

A lot of his work is also pretty humorous and plays with that feeling of disbelief. I feel like it would fit pretty well in the Museum of Jurassic Technology. Friedman’s work is definitely open for skepticism. It is easy to look at it and think to yourself, well, there’s no way a human being sat here and shaved down an entire pencil or rolled enough tiny pieces of play-doh to fill an empty pill capsule or carved his face out of aspirin, these things must not be real he must have fabricated them some other way. But once many of the objects are considered a second time it is clear that there probably is no easier less painfully meticulous way of creating what you are seeing and so you realize he must have actually done all of these things. You then become a believer in Tom Friedman and his obsessive work. This is a vulnerable position to be in, you are open and ready to accept any absurdity from him as truth. Then you hear about 1,000 Hours of Staring which is basically what it sounds like, a 32 1/2 x 32 1/2” sheet of paper that Friedman stared at for 1,000 hours, or claims he stared at depending on whether or not you are a Friedman believer. 1,000 Hours of Staring is in the collection at MoMA and is listed as “Stare on paper” instead of the usual listing like “paint and wood” or “graphite on paper.” Clearly The Museum of Modern Art is a believer as well. At first I was sure Friedman did not stare at that paper for that much time, but as I learned more about him I found myself being converted and now would like to think that its pretty possible that he did.