TOOL BOX

Dan Peterman, conceptual DIY-artist with an ecologist's mind, makes sculptures and installations mostly from recycled consumer plastic.

The 'Carrying Case', an early work, is from before the use of recycled plastic. The 'Storage' sculpture refers to storage space in wholesale hardware stores, while the 'Nailless Bench' is proof of the designer's mind.

Dan Peterman, 'W/ Carrying Case 500 Series - Red, Handle On Case, Unidentified' (1988-1989)

Dan Peterman, '4-Ton Vertical Storage' (1996)

Dan Peterman, 'Nailless Bench' (2009)

Find more on Dan Peterman's work in the Fitness Feedback blog.

POWER TOOLS

The Power Tool, as everybody knows, is an extention of masculinity and manhood.

Rubén Ortiz Torres, a Mexican artist living in L.A., U.S.A., portraits stereotypes of the Mexican immigrant in his Pan-American relation to "the American citizen".

Mexicans in California are usually destined to manual labor like gardening or window washing. The macho Chicano is also known for his lowrider: the shiny pimped classic car with hydraulic suspension, sitting low above the ground.

Torres's sculptures and installations combine the power tool of the low-income job (like leaf blowers and lawn mowers) with the hydraulics and polished chrome of the lowrider. These sculptures not only portrait Mexican culture within the U.S.A. but also comment on their political-social relationship.
To read the interesting story behind the pimped leaf-blowers on Torres's own blog follow this link.


Rubén Ortiz Torres, 'Power Tools (detail)', (1999)


Rubén Ortiz Torres, 'Power Tools (detail)', (1999)


Rubén Ortiz Torres, 'The Garden of Earthly Delights' (2002)


Rubén Ortiz Torres, '1492 Indians vs. Dukes' (1993)

SELFMADE/READYMADE

What if every subject has been turned into object? Nothing left but to turn the tools used in this proces into subject themselves.
This might be a simplified explanation of the installation work 'Tisch' ('Table') by Swiss duo artist Fischli/Weiss.
Fischli/Weiss's work is known for their relativism: photo's of non-descript airports, cause-action videos, objects in dangerous balance, concrete moulded 'landscapes'.
'Tisch' looks like the content of their studio being transfered 'as-is' to the museum floor. However, every bit in the installation is a polyurethane reproduction of these objects.
Leaning towards the readymade, the existentialism in their work goes further then that. The bold reflection in a work like 'Tisch' or 'Airport' questions our surroundings deeper then just their superficial easthetics.
In 'Tisch' the readymade is reproduced to represent the tools and materials used in the making: a mirror inside a mirror.




Fischli/Weiss, 'Tisch' (1992-ongoing)

DOE-HET-ZELF

Do it yourself !

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