Reality vs. Fantasy

Breaching the thin line (for some) of what is fantasy and what is reality is our next artist, Tom Friedman. In 1989, Friedman was a mere graduate student at the University of Illinois in Chicago when he began his studio works. Originally starting with charcoal drawings, Friedman admitted that the world of “art speak” was so foreign to him that he became frustrated and cleared out his studio by boarding up the windows and painting everything white; essentially starting from scratch.

From there on out, Freidman began placing everyday objects that he found in his apartment in his studio. “At this point I sort of dropped the idea of making art,” he says. “It was more about discovering a beginning.” These “beginnings” started with a single object and slowly grew over time. Friedman’s first obscure work consisted of the tedious gathering of eraser shavings over months and then forming them into a circle which frayed around the edges.

       

 "I found there would be an element of logic that would connect them, like the process of erasing with an eraser and achieving this minimal focal point as the idea of erasing."

Friedman’s absurd views on what should be called art didn’t stop there. He went on to make many contemporary sculptures using such things as yarn and toothpicks. From 1992-1995, he gathered all the words in a college dictionary and spread them like paint splatters across a solid blue background. In the same year he constructed a big bang-like supernova out of some three thousand toothpicks. Not to mention his morbid creations of people “melting”, as they are made out of yarn. Tom Friedman continues to amaze folks around the world. His sculptures have been shown in many parts of Europe, including Geneva and Rome. He currently lives in Massachusetts.

Erasers (Untitled, 1995)

Friedman's toothpick supernova (Untitled, 1995)