These inside out teddy bears are the work of Kent Rogowski. The teddy bears come from a book from Kent Rogowski simply entitled “Bears”. This is a series of portraits of ordinary teddy bears that have been turned inside out and restuffed. Each animal’s appearance is determined by the necessities of the manufacturing process. Simple patterns and devices never meant to be seen are now prominent physical characteristics, giving each one a distinctly quirky personality: their fasteners become eyes, their seams become scars, and their stuffing creeps out in the most unexpected places. This makes the bears strange yet oddly familiar creatures. They are hideous yet cuddly, disturbing yet endearing, absurd yet adorable, while offering a metaphor for us all to consider. These bears, which have lived and loved and lost as much as their owners, have suffered and endured through it all. It is by virtue of revealing their inner core might we better understand our own.
I remember when Scott introduced us to this artist in ART 202. It's such a simple yet super creative idea. It kind of makes me upset for not thinking about doing this myself. It's so strange to see the inner workings of these cuddly stuffed animals. They seem so unfamiliar, strange and battered as if they were some child's favorite play toy that got donated to the local SAVERS after years of play. But really it's the same bear that was always there. I find this view of the inner to be so much more appealing than seeing the clean outside. It's like getting a chance to see an artists' process instead of only getting the chance to view the finished product. Does that mean that every one of the hundreds of people working in sweat shops in China are artists?
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sofia mustelin
3/5/2014 04:07:33 pm
This is really fascinating. There is always another "side" to every story, to every work of art, and to every object that we come across, and I think this kind of art makes us think about the untold stories of objects, or even their history that we cannot see, but that we all know is there.
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A class compilation of humorous artists and artwork, and other art related things of interest