I have never seen the work of Tom Friedman in person, but I love it. He uses non-traditional materials for his work- balls, plastic cups, laundry detergent, money and sugar cubes to name a few. Not only that, but he uses them in a very straightforward way in that either it's an amazing use of material or the conceptual content of the use of the material that is amazing.
Take for instance, this fuzzy looking, round shape set on the floor. It's a pile of used, rubber eraser. Normally, this would be a head ache to discover because you would have to clean it up and it's not an easy substance to clean up. There's always some bit of it that doesn't want to go or you find some days later hitching a ride in your clothes. I digress.
Point here is this eraser, in an Existential/Zen kind of way, becomes more than a pile of waste. An eraser, normally an item that is used to remove or unmake words or drawings, and in this task becomes unmade itself, is being used to find a new existence for itself. The thing that unmakes and was unmade was remade.
In a similar fashion, Friedman took 36 boxes (don't quote me on that, but I'm pretty sure that's the number) of Total breakfast cereal and combined them to form one giant box of Total. And here I thought it took only one bowl! The box he made is fairly impressive on its own, from a Pop art, purely visual point of view. However, it gets it's extra kick from it's Conceptual side.
Friedman took the 36 boxes, methodically cut them up and then proceeded to reassemble them as one big box. The name of the cereal becomes a visual pun for his actions. The sum of the pieces is the Total. Get it?
And so Tom Friedman's work goes. Take something made, unmake it then remake it. Add a dash of humor. Enjoy.
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