2012

The Morris Graves Museum of Art all dressed up for
The Exhibition at the End of Time, at the End of the World.

December 12, 2012 - January 20, 2013
Humboldt Arts Council in the MORRIS GRAVES MUSEUM OF ART

For the first time in the history of the museum, the entire space, inside and out, was given over to the work of one artist. I was hoping to give my hometown a bit of the feel of all those amazing European exhibitions I had participated in. The work was almost all completely done over the course of two years out in the barn which made it possible, with a great deal of assistance, to get everything installed in place in just two short weeks. Here's a link to a PDF of the Gallery Guide which might answer some questions.

The exhibition was open to the public (with some safety considerations) during installation, as it was being created "in situ". Work setting things up began December 3rd with visitors able to get an idea of the look of things very early on. By December 21st, the evening of the official opening event, The Opening at the End, everything was in place. "TRUTH" and "BEAUTY" were speeding around the track in the Thonson Gallery and in the Rotunda, the fur floor was walkable with music (only the Skeeter Davis song "The End of the World") being played...

On New Year's Day, Art Waves, a local arts and entertainment guide with host Wendy Butler, broadcast an interview done with me at the Morris Graves Museum on KHSU, the local NPR affiliate. That interview is available here: Art Waves

Quite a bit of video was taken at both the Opening at the End on December 21st, 2012, and at the Arts! Alive event, January 5th, 2013. These do add something to the documentation and may in fact be a better way of documenting certain aspects of the work. Below follow several examples, and there are a number of other videos, including music performances at the YouTube site:

Documentation: Galleries of images of the works in the show. Below follow a number of photo galleries detailing the works in The Exhbition at the End of Time, at the End of the World.

The End of Time, 20' x 38' x 2', painted Masonite, gilded dense foam letters, tubing, clamps, radio controlled cars, 2012.
A race track in the form of an infinity symbol allowing viewers to operate radio controlled cars and race "TRUTH" against "BEAUTY".

(selecting the image below will lead to a gallery of images showing construction and the finished work in use):

The End of History, 25' x 25' x 15', carved dense foam (faux concrete appearance done with Portland cement and acrylic polymer resin), - seine twine, pulleys, brass knobs and name tags, ambient sound, 2012.
A dropped ceiling, floating at approximately 8 feet in a gallery with a 15 foot ceiling, allowing viewers to walk underneath. Each of the 33 panels is connected by a series of pulleys and lines to a terminal block with a name tag for each panel.

(selecting the image below will lead to a gallery of images showing construction and the finished work in use):

Additional documentation is on this linked page: "The End of History"

The One True Thing, 4-foot diameter circle on support structure rising to 54 inches, tinted sand on plywood, fabric, 2012.
A sand painting in loose tinted sand, raised off the floor and intended to be viewed from the Atrium balcony above.

(selecting the image below will lead to a gallery of images showing construction and the finished painting):

The End of the World, 1968-2012 (fur), 39-foot diameter circle (truncated), faux arctic fox fur on corrugated cardboard on floor, piano, sheet music, portable record player, 45 RPM record, 2012.
A floor painting done using faux arctic fox fur and intended to be walked on and rolled around on. Also incorporates a grand piano with sheet music for "The End of the World" (by Arthur Kent and Sylvia Dee, written for Skeeter Davis) which may be played and a portable record with a 45 RPM record of "The End of the World" sung by Skeeter Davis which may also be played.

(selecting the image below will lead to a gallery of images showing construction and the finished painting in use):

The End of the World, 1968-2012 (grass), 15' x 100' , grass sod, potting soil, plastic trays, 2012.
An outdoor painting in living, growing pods of grass arranged in Braille Code to spell out its own title.

(selecting the image below will lead to a gallery of images showing construction and the almost finished painting):

The End. Dimensions variable, Blu-Ray player, video projector, sound bar. 2012
A projection of a 9 min. 30 sec. digital video consisting of a brief image of a sunset with the text THE END superimposed, followed by scrolling credits similar to those at the end of a film. An attempt to list all of the many thousands of people I've worked with, been in group shows with, or have been influenced by during the past 44 years of exhibiting art. A way of saying thank you and farewell.

(selecting the image below will link to a video excerpt posted on YouTube:)

The End of Me, 24 inches x 20 inches (each), 10 framed color photographs, 2012.
A grouping of ten framed photographs of the tips of the artist's fingers. Originally taken in 1993 using traditional color film photography, the images were drum scanned and printed using ink jet technology in 2012.

(selecting the image below will lead to a gallery of images showing each photo and the group as hung for this exhibition):

The End of the Sun, 40 inches x 30 inches (each), #1 through #7, oil on canvas. 2012
A grouping of 7 paintings of digital images of the locally observed annular eclipse, May 20, 2012.

(selecting the image below will lead to a gallery of images showing each photo and the group as hung for this exhibition):

Deadfall, 30 inches x 40 inches (each), Deadfall 1, Deadfall 2, Deadfall 3, oil on canvas, 2012.
A grouping of three paintings of the same digital image of a sunset at Deadfall lake.

(selecting the image below will lead to a gallery of images showing each photo and the group as hung for this exhibition):

CAD Drawings, 13 inches x 19 inches (each), ink on paper, 2012.
A grouping of 9 ink jet prints of images created in the 3D drawing software, Rhino 3D, the software used to figure out the layout of The End of History.

(selecting the image below will lead to a gallery of images showing each photo and the group as hung for this exhibition):

A little Press attention at the national level in ARTnews about The End of Time, at the End of the World:

A Word of Explanation:
Why do an exhibition centered around an eccentric belief that the Mayan culture somehow knew the end of the world was scheduled to occur at the end of the year 2012?
Well, the simplest answer is that I have always liked the idea of a themed exhibition and working with this well known prophecy I could set up the information long in advance on my website to allow fans, followers and believers sufficient time to sell their houses, settle their affairs and move here, to Eureka, the long-recognized "safest" place to be during such events.
But there's also another reason:
I am quite likely personally responsible for this whole "Mayan calendar", "end of the world", global apocalypse event, and feel it's my obligation and the honorable thing, to go ahead and accept that responsibility and have it associated with my name.
Allow me to explain:

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