Influence: Tom Otterness....

I love the work of Tom Otterness. I've admired his public art for years, and always have considered him one of my biggest influences. We have a specific thing in common: We both utilize the approachability of the cartoon image in order to convey a more thought provoking idea or expression. I was asked once about my approach, and i said that it's like carving an important message onto the chest of a fluffy bunny. the fluffy bunny being the cartoon, the message being the idea i want to convey. Otterness definitely outdid my statement though, in 1977, he actually killed a dog as part of a looped video installation, something which he apologized profusely for later in his career. This is how i think of Toms sculptures... when you see them in public you are drawn to them because of their innocence and approachability, and then, you're hit over the head with meaningful artistic missives. not too far from killing an innocent animal, minus the blatent law breaking and disgusting morals. I'm willing to bet that Tom has no use goofy whacky cartoon animation that exists for the purpose of entertaining the mob, or worse, children of the mob. The difference between art and entertainment can often be summed up as attempting to either make the audience laugh, or think. I've never had an interest in amusing people. Tom Otterness's images are filled with urban tales that hold up his social commentary. and the vehicle that he chooses to use, public bronze sculpture, eliminates any pretension that would interfere with his message. check out his site, chances are he has a public art project to check out very close by.