Tom the Dancing Bug by Ruben Bolling for October 07, 2006

Transcript:

Tom the Dancing Bug by Ruben Bolling Larry Dodson An American Master Frederick Oppenheimer Art Historian Frederick: Yes, I "found" Larry Dodson -- although that's like saying Powell "found" the Grand Canyon. It just shows up on your path, and all you can do is fight back tears of transcendence. Arby's Oppenheimer was walking in Plaza Shopping Center in Studdart, Minn., when he saw Larry through the window of an Arby's. He could not believe his eyes. "There in front of Dodson was a work of art of such stunning beauty and truth that to call it brilliant would be a tragic understatement. I managed to capture its ephemeral genius with a hastily purchased disposable camera." That simple snapshot would set the art world on fire. The position of the sienna coffee; the splash of crimson ketchup neatly tucked into the top portion of the "potato cake" container. The display comments on the superficiality of our culture, while it is intrinsically, unselfconsciously an actual part of it. "I asked him what he called this masterwork, and after some words were exchanged, he said, "Beat it, twerp." A title as brilliantly apt as the work itself." Dodson, Lawrence Detail from "Larry Dodson. Employee 54558, QQC Technologies," courtesy Guggenheim Museum. Gerhard Olivos Art Critician Gerhard: This art simply grabs the viewer by the turtleneck and screams: "What IS art?" Art is not PAINT. Art is not INTENTION. This is great art not in SPITE of, but BECAUSE of, Dodson's own innocence of his participation in it. NEXT: The art world is set atwitter again with Dodson's next piece, a performance that's come to be called: "Of a Man at a Doorstep, Angry at Art and World." Larry: Get off my lawn, you fruitcakes! Man: Brilliant! Larry: Who are you people? Man: Bravo!