Art For
Today...
Born in Sweden, Claes Oldenburg (American, b.1929) is a well-known sculptor associated with the Pop Art movement. While he was a baby, Oldenburg’s family moved to the United States, first settling in New York, and from 1936 in Chicago, where Oldenburg lived until he attended Yale University. Oldenburg moved to New York in 1956, where he met artists Jim Dine (American, b.1935) and Allan Kaprow (American, 1927–2006), who were working to break the mold of the prior generation of Abstract Expressionists. Oldenburg’s early exhibits in New York feature environments assembled from images, papier mâché, and plaster sculpture, such as his project The Street, which included debris, signs, silhouettes of figures, and other objects evoking an urban setting.
In 1961, Oldenburg staged his most famous happening, The Store, in which he rented space amidst actual shops on the East Side to sell traditional store goods recast as plaster sculptures, exposing the
Clothespin at the Center City section of Philadelphia
Free Stamp at city hall, Cleveland, Ohio
Soft Three-Way Plug at the Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, Iowa
Apple Core at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem
Claes Oldenburg
relationship between art and commodities. Naming his performances the product of the invented “Ray Gun Theater,” Oldenburg began to incorporate monumental soft sculptures made from stuffed vinyl or inflatable materials. These works, sagging with gravity, humorously evoke the human body, forcing viewers to confront everyday objects in radically different circumstances. In 1965, Oldenburg began to design imaginary outdoor monuments, most of which were never realized, with his inflatable Lipstick Ascending, on Caterpillar Tracks being the most notable exception after its installation at Yale University.
From the 1970s onward, Oldenburg focused on large outdoor public sculptures constructed with Cor-Ten steel, such as his Free Stamp in Cleveland, Ohio, Giant Trowel in Otterlo, the Netherlands, and Crusoe Umbrella in Des Moines, Iowa. Oldenburg often collaborated with his wife, artist Coosje van Bruggen (Dutch/American, 1942–2009), on these large-scale projects.
Cruso Umbrella, Cowles Commons, Des Moines. Iowa
Plantoir Blue at Rockefeller Center, New York
Typewriter Eraser and Scale at the CityCenter, Las Vegas
My Art
& Other
Stuff
Words and music by Dave Granger and Clark Williams
Arranged by Clark Williams
October 1980
Time: 6:16
(Click our picture to listen to the original cassette recording)
If ever it's a rainy day
I pack myself up in my room
Then chase all the clouds away
Get myself back to you
Chorus:
Well I know that you're going to cry
Tears are running from your eyes
A piece of my love you take
Is one that so often break
If ever you're miles away
I'll think of you the way you are
Your shining hair your ruby lips
Then it don't seem quite so far
Harmonica lament break:
Chorus:
Very long jam session:
Repeat 2nd. verse
Chorus:
Words and music by Dave Granger and Clark Williams
Arranged by Clark Williams
October 1980
Time: 9:40
(A song about getting over from being bullied)
You might think I've hidden my shame
of things I've said and done
Who am I to play this silly game?
When there's no way to tell if I've won
No way to tell if I've won
Chorus:
I won't touch
No, I won't feel
Won't hurt as much because it won't even seem real
Won't feel pain
No, and I won't feel sorrow
I'll just wait and wonder who I am tomorrow
Quick Harmonica break:
And freedom is something that everybody needs
But you can't chase it blindly
You can't run but must walk proud
No peace of mind comes with its finding
Peace of mind sure is fine, sure is fine
I'd like to find peace of mind
(Chorus)
Eclectic guitars and forsaken dreams
Are kept in closets to hide them
I think it's time to open up the doors
To do our best to find them
Do our best to find them
(Refrain)
Oh yeah!
It's time to touch
Yes it's time to feel
It's going to hurt so much
But it's the only way I'll heal
I'll feel pain and soon I'll feel sorrow
I'll wake up knowing
I'm so happy
So happy
Tomorrow
(Lead-out harmonica solo then go into "Taking a Ride")
East 6th and Grand Ave. Des Moines, Iowa, circa 1970 something. I had it in 1983, 84, 85.
Contact Me: Clark@kingbabyproductions.com