Robert Boyd
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Elaine Bradford, The Wedding Party, 2013, crocheted yarn, taxidermy, mixed media, dimensions variable
Sometimes art just wants to be fun. Sometimes having a laugh and not thinking too hard about it is all you want. I saw The Heat last week and it wasn't because I wanted explore issues of gender representation. And then there's The Wedding Party by Elaine Bradford at Art Palace. Now this is art that can make you laugh.
The Wedding Party consists of a bride and groom, some parents, and a few other guests (including a couple who are clearly not related to the bride or groom). Or to put it another way, The Wedding Party consists of nine taxidermy animals--hunting trophies--with certain additions like ties and necklaces.
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Elaine Bradford, The Wedding Party, 2013, crocheted yarn, taxidermy, mixed media, dimensions variable
The additions are how we tell male and female members of the party--the men have ties, the ladies have necklaces. Weirdly enough, all the deer are bucks--there are no does in The Wedding Party. I guess you could take that as a comment of some kind on gay marriage. (A little Wikipedia research tells me that female whitetail deer can grow antlers in rare occasions if they produce too much testosterone.)
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Elaine Bradford, The Wedding Party (detail), 2013, crocheted yarn, taxidermy, mixed media, dimensions variable
One of the trophies has a plaque that reads "KILLED BY DAVID ARRINGDALE 12-23-87." It reminds you that these trophies that Bradford has collected were all wild animals hunted down by men with rifles or shotguns or maybe bow and arrow. Damn, I was hoping The Wedding Party would just be funny, but now I have to think about death, too.
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Elaine Bradford, The Wedding Party, 2013, crocheted yarn, taxidermy, mixed media, dimensions variable
This wall, with its deer, duck and wild boar, made me laugh the most. Especially the grinning boar with its necklace--the oddball family friend who was invited to the wedding, I suppose.
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Elaine Bradford, The Wedding Party, 2013, crocheted yarn, taxidermy, mixed media, dimensions variable
But the thing that makes it an Elaine Bradford piece is the inclusion of knit coverings--the bride and groom's balaclava-like face coverings. Without them, The Wedding Party is just a piece of parody. Humorous, sure, but that's it. These face coverings for the bride and groom add an element of strangeness, or mystery, of--dare I say it?-art to the whole piece.
So maybe you can read into this a bit more than just a desire to amuse. But don't let the possibly serious subtexts get in the way of your laughter. To do so would be to deny yourself genuine pleasure.
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Elaine Bradford, The Wedding Party, 2013, crocheted yarn, taxidermy, mixed media, dimensions variableSometimes art just wants to be fun. Sometimes having a laugh and not thinking too hard about it is all you want. I saw The Heat last week and it wasn't because I wanted explore issues of gender representation. And then there's The Wedding Party by Elaine Bradford at Art Palace. Now this is art that can make you laugh.
The Wedding Party consists of a bride and groom, some parents, and a few other guests (including a couple who are clearly not related to the bride or groom). Or to put it another way, The Wedding Party consists of nine taxidermy animals--hunting trophies--with certain additions like ties and necklaces.
Elaine Bradford, The Wedding Party, 2013, crocheted yarn, taxidermy, mixed media, dimensions variable
The additions are how we tell male and female members of the party--the men have ties, the ladies have necklaces. Weirdly enough, all the deer are bucks--there are no does in The Wedding Party. I guess you could take that as a comment of some kind on gay marriage. (A little Wikipedia research tells me that female whitetail deer can grow antlers in rare occasions if they produce too much testosterone.)
Elaine Bradford, The Wedding Party (detail), 2013, crocheted yarn, taxidermy, mixed media, dimensions variable
One of the trophies has a plaque that reads "KILLED BY DAVID ARRINGDALE 12-23-87." It reminds you that these trophies that Bradford has collected were all wild animals hunted down by men with rifles or shotguns or maybe bow and arrow. Damn, I was hoping The Wedding Party would just be funny, but now I have to think about death, too.
Elaine Bradford, The Wedding Party, 2013, crocheted yarn, taxidermy, mixed media, dimensions variable
This wall, with its deer, duck and wild boar, made me laugh the most. Especially the grinning boar with its necklace--the oddball family friend who was invited to the wedding, I suppose.
Elaine Bradford, The Wedding Party, 2013, crocheted yarn, taxidermy, mixed media, dimensions variable
But the thing that makes it an Elaine Bradford piece is the inclusion of knit coverings--the bride and groom's balaclava-like face coverings. Without them, The Wedding Party is just a piece of parody. Humorous, sure, but that's it. These face coverings for the bride and groom add an element of strangeness, or mystery, of--dare I say it?-art to the whole piece.
So maybe you can read into this a bit more than just a desire to amuse. But don't let the possibly serious subtexts get in the way of your laughter. To do so would be to deny yourself genuine pleasure.
