Artist Spotlight: Dan Colen
Word of the Day: Trash
ARTIST COMMENTS
"I’m interested in using the “real world” as a material and a force within my process. I like how these materials take some control away from me, allowing for a more uncertain future and yet a more finished piece. These materials come with a history, not one I necessarily know, but a history for sure. There is an infinity in “real world objects” that, no matter how much I try, I couldn’t paint or sculpt into being." — Dan Colen
Interested in how the physical properties of mediums dictate their specific forms and symbolic resonances, Colen oscillates in his work between rigorous artisanal technique and the aesthetics of chance. Alongside his works in oil on canvas, he has often employed unconventional materials such as chewing gum, flowers, and trash, relinquishing control of his work’s final appearance to their unpredictable surfaces.
DEFINITION
Trash is rubbish or garbage — it's the stuff that gets thrown away. Your town might organize a clean-up day each year when people pick up trash in parks and neighborhoods.
Trash is dirty, worthless, leftover debris. Fittingly, the word is also a terribly derogatory term for useless, low-status people: "I should've known you were nothing but trash." And to trash talk is to brutally criticize or gossip about someone. You can even use trash as a verb, to mean "throw away," as in, "I'm going to trash this trash in that trash can over there."
Previous Word of the Day: