Artist Report – Tom Friedman

Artist Report

Tom Friedman (toothpick, wooden chair, aspirin carvings,

hot balls, box balls, “open” sculpture)

1. Huddle – 2013 – Stainless Steel

2. Untitled (Sun) – 2012 – Wood, styrofoam and paint

3. Open Black Box – 2006 – Black construction paper

4. Untitled – 1992 – Wooden school chair

5. Big Big Mac – 2013 – Styrofoam and paint

Please share a statement from an art historian, critic or journalist about your artist:

Talking about Tom Friedman’s book, “The boldest, best-executed and most far-reaching publishing project devoted to contemporary art. These books will revolutionize the way contemporary art is presented and written about.” (Artforum)

Please share on idiosyncrasy about your artist here:

Tom Friedman enjoys using everyday materials such as toothpicks, sugar cubes and paper to create his art work.  He likes to intricate geometric arrangements with these items to create balls, boxes, etc.  He likes to make extraordinary work that explores ideas of perception, logic and possibility.

Please choose one of the 5 pieces above and write a subject vs. content statement about the work here:

The Untitled Sun caught my eye the most.  This sculpture is made from wood, styrofoam and paint.  It looks like he put thousands of tooth picks inside a styrofoam ball to create a big ball like object that has thousands of points coming out of it.  Its kind of like a porcupines back but in a ball/ circular shape.

This Untitled Sun could represent our living sun and the flames that come off it.  It has thousands of points coming out of it.  The depth going inside the points could be into the sun since it is so big and you would get stuck in both and not make your way out.

This Untitled Sun could also represent tumble weeds from the desert.  It reminds me of something you would see down south blowing around on a dusty, windy day.  All the toothpick needles could have got stuck to the ball while blowing around all day.