After a full week (and forgetting to blog!), it seems appropriate to share some more augenshmaus. Artist Tara Donovan's use of recycled materials is nothing new - many artists today are working entirely with post-consumer waste to create unique sculptures and installations, reinvigorating the everyday materials with new life and energy. But what Donovan's work does is take it to the next level, by using a minimal color palette and focusing on repeated forms at a massive scale. Viewers, I imagine, feel engulfed by her huge installations. This, I believe, makes her work worth noting. (and also makes me want to obsessively collect items like toilet paper rolls or toothpicks) Beauty, to be sure, can be discovered in the most unexpected places and within the most mundane materials.
Haze | Tara Donovan | Clear Drinking Straws | 2003 | 12' 7" x 42' 2" x 7 3/4"
Untitled | Tara Donovan | Styrofoam cups, hot glue | 2003 | 6' x 20' x 19' 2"
Bluffs | Tara Donovan | buttons, glue | 2005 | 3 1/2' x 5' x 12'