The intriguing and strange oeuvre of Tim Hawkinson has received in the Whitney its first grand-scale retrospective, curated by Larry Rinder and installed by the artist himself. In Hawkinson´s varied and multimedia art we spot the industrial absurd of Jean Tinguely, the corporal and psychic of Bruce Nauman, the personal and autobiographic of Charles Ray, the element of performance and body art of Chris Burden (both write precise descriptions of the actions executed), and the powerful presence of Duchamp in the utilization of objets trouves and the home-made, artisanal fabrication of enigmatic readymades out of common materials.
Thus, “Signature” is a motorized school desk with a pen that signs the name of the artist ad infinitum and drops the paper on the floor, forming a pile of material that gets increased every minute. His “Index (Finger)”, a mutilated blood-stained fingertip, is stuffed with pens and pencils, the same the artist used for drawing his expansive mural “World Chart of World History from the Earliest Times”.
The art of Tim Hawkinson is autobiographic and universal, a study of his body and persona and an analysis of the absurd (humoristic, not tragic) of the human condition. His creations speak of the pass of time in the human being and things, the ephemeral and vulnerable of life and materials, besides being a spiritual reference and of Christian faith (“Jerusalem Cross”) in shape of music (the anthems of “Überorgan”).
But accessing these meanings of Hawkinson’s art requires more than a single reading, and it does not come easy. That’s why the other side of his work is the fun, humor, viewer action, the childish and school-construction looks of his machines, like in a fantastic laboratory or a circus show. This popular attraction that Hawkinson’s gigantic sculptures exert is reinforced with the display: there are no beginning or end, no educative texts, no historic references, no long paragraphs. The visitor explores, finds his own way, observes, investigates; discovers, laughs. It is evident, by strolling and observing around the grotesque figures of Tim Hawkinson, that the public is having fun, and their interest and attention in deciphering the objects surprises and rewards.
(published in "Lapiz", April 2005)
