An Open Letter To Rick DeVos

Dear Mr. DeVos,

Recently I heard that you wanted to see Crazy Crap all over the city.  While I realize ArtPrize is now officially over, and that our home lies slightly outside of the downtown boundaries I would like you to consider making it another satellite site in 2012.  The work showing in our gallery seems to fit your criterion to a T.

Our artists-in-residence have been busy filling their portfolios and our home with a variety of pieces.  Here’s a little sample of their pieces and work statements.

Work Statement:  Knowing the trendy relevance of found objects and urban space this work combined chalk the artists finally found in the messy garge with the utilitarian walking stones.  The chalk covered shoe speaks to the way art moves through our world.

Work Statement:  The title of this line drawing is Octopuses Is Sword Fighting.  The grammatical error is intended to remind you of the primitive nature of the drawing.  His influences are weaponry, Imaginext Sea-Serpents, and ancient South American tribal artists.

Work Statement:  Inspired by this work at the Grand Rapids Public Museum the artist set out to prove that he did not need the aid of power tools to doodle.  It had nothing to do with the fact that the Mother Artist disallows the use of drills when the Father Artist is not home.

[Picture of a honeycrisp apple minus large chunks and speared through with a butterknife]
Work Statement:  This fresh, yet somewhat violent entry missed it’s photographic opportunity due to the Starving Artist Effect.  Also, it is important to remember that if I were to take a picture of every ArtPrize entry I would only be able to spend 9 seconds with each child a day.

Work Statement:  It’s an airplane crash.  That’s all, folks.  Nothing more to see here.

Work Statement:  The use of peel and stick bingo stickers casting shadows communicates the dangers of wasting your life away gambling in the darkness of a bingo hall.  Either that or the 4-yr-old artist was just excited to be allowed the opportunity to put stickers on something other than scrap paper.  And the shadows were cool.

My husband also put a cup of water on the table and called it ArtPrize.  Oh wait, someone already entered that in the competition.

So, Mr. DeVos, is that Crazy and Crappy enough for you?

Yours artfully,
Christina