O/T Anti-auto show takes aim at America's car obsession
PUSSSYKATT
DETROIT - A tall guy who squeezes himself into a 1992 Honda Civic, artist Phil
Burke hates following those gas-guzzling, vision-blocking sport utility
vehicles that can dwarf his car.
So he vented the best way he knows: painting huge illustrations of the back
ends of a Cadillac Escalade and Lincoln Navigator, sport utility vehicles that
Burke calls a "blight to the freeways."
Burke is among the 16 "transit-riding, bike-liking" artists who are taking a
pot-shot at the city's king industry by putting on the fourth North American
International Anti-Show.
The 10-day art exhibit - set to rail against an international auto show going
on across town - opened Friday, intent on raising $3,000 to install bike racks
throughout the city and provide an alternative to the ubiquitous motor vehicle.
"The message is to make you think about your approach to transit," said artist
Jenny Schmid, while helping set up a vehicle-loathing display at Detroit
Contemporary gallery, a drafty, yellow-painted cinder block building that once
served as, well, an auto-supply store.
"I think there's a lack of reflection on how freeways have shaped this town and
divided people," Schmid said.
Billed as "slam-on-the-brakes artwork," the collection doesn't pull punches
about a disdain for automobiles and their environmental impact.
To that end, an encased diorama near Burke's "Obstructed View" series depicts a
downtown scene, with an auto show nestled by a party store and a prostitute
standing on a corner - to Schmid, "a more realistic Detroit environment."
Then, there's the back end of Ford pickup truck converted into a bed, its
sawed-off cab serving as a headboard.
"There's an old saying: you can live in your car, but you can't drive your
house," said Schmid before a friend chimed in, "You're getting a lot of mileage
out of that."
On an upstairs wall, the word "Commute" is painted eerily in heavy-metal font.
Framed exhibits include "Broken Headlight," a photographed diorama of a
miniature motorist stopped by two policemen.
Nearby is a deaf man's display of written notes by police who have pulled him
over. "Drivers license. You were weaving a little. Where you coming from? Where
are you going?" reads one of the messages, all of them tacked above a Dunkin'
Donuts cup also bearing an officer's scrawl.
Last year's exhibit drew 700 people - compared to 800,000 who attended "the
other show" - but it raised about $1,000 for non-profit Rails for Trails, a
group converting old railroad tracks into bike routes, according to gallery
director Aaron Timlin. He said Detroit drivers yelled, honked and occasionally
threw things when he rode his bike to work.
"I'd be happy to see one bike rack in each of our major cultural centers,
museums, cafes," Timlin said. "Maybe the bike racks will help us to start
thinking that way, more bike-friendly."
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Bethany
OH MY GOD!!! That's my professor!!!! Yipee!! Way to go Jen!
~Bethany :oD
karenjanee
Bethany wrote:
>
>
> OH MY GOD!!! That's my professor!!!! Yipee!! Way to go Jen!
> ~Bethany :oD
Do you go to CCS?
karenkeeperofmancow&bjork
karenjanee
> ~Bethany
Yep, I'm from suburbia and go to WSU (Music Major)as well
-karen