florentijn hofman.

via florentijn hofman

i've (sort of) rediscovered florentijn hofman, a dutch contemporary artist who devotes himself to installations that are often quite large in scale and probably intense to behold in person. i first found him (though not knowing who he was) when i found a few photos of rubber duck (2009) which is a traveling -- and giant -- rubber duck that floats on water. it has traveled to and from several continents now, its latest stop being osaka, japan. it started out in amsterdam, and has also visited other parts of europe, and brazil.

the above installation is from his solo show "dushi" at the hague where he changes the dimensions of familiar stuffed animals and gives the idea an entirely new feeling.

i think this guy is super fantastic. i love how he plays with everyday things and concepts -- rubber ducks, delivery vans, and coats of paint on buildings. but when he sculpts something, either throwing it out of scale or distorting it, he adds a sense of "how comfortable am i with this?" to it. it's like if i went to reach for my cell phone and it was the size of a couch. or if my house was wrapped in purple cellophane, how would i feel about that? would it still be my house? would it cease to be a house, and in turn become something else? a candy, perhaps? or a present?

there's a bit of jeff koons' balloon animals crossed with a marc jacobs handbag in his inflated 3 caniches (2008). there's a huge nod to christo and jean-claude's wrapped reichstag-era in his blue beukelsblauw (2004-06) and campaign for orange (2006). it might lean a little bit TOO much toward these other contemporary tops. but i still like hofman.

and by the way, christo and jean-claude, if you ever get that arkansas river project, i will BE THERE. it's been in the works for too long. too long.