THE GREEN SHOW – Recycle, Repurpose, Reuse

Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo Gallery, Epic Center – September 2011
Working with a GREEN point of view, seventeen Kalamazoo area artists investigated how this might
impact their work. Many have looked to found objects as a source of materials and inspiration.
Others are recycling work that they created earlier in their career.
Still others are inspired by objects found in nature. Show Statement.

Steve Curl, Left: Dolly Dagger Fragment, Right: Number 56, found object collages
I was born in 1963, the child of a weaver and a photographer. I was always encouraged to put things together AND take them apart, although often the things taken apart ended up either staying that way or going back together in an entirely new way. Because I have a short attention span I failed to excel in the academic world although I find the process of learning things when I want to learn them to be as pure a joy as I believe it's possible to experience. Our wasteful world is filled with things for me to disassemble and explore, and often the best things are free for the taking. I can surround myself with lofty notions of Reducing, Re-Using and Recycling but in the end I'm just too cheap to afford oil paints or bronze like a REAL artist. My short attention span also came in handy in the business world, enabling me to sample from a vast smorgasbord of employment experiences. At various times in my life I've been a neon sign maker, cook, record store manager, roadie, nuclear medicine shielding technician, cameraman, and even an art teacher. About a decade ago I discovered a whole community of Misfit Toys like myself that gather yearly in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada just to build and burn things, and ever since then I've been trying to share the Burning Man experience with those in what the Burners call The Default World. There's something for everyone out there and I encourage you to investigate. And if you've got a minute, try finding something broken and taking it apart. sscurl@aol.com