If Rorschach Used Coffee . . . Benoist

Tom Benoist "Beansy" of Rhinocrash painted paper towels of all things the Summer of 2007! What I find most interesting about this project is most people could not figure out that the support was actually paper towels. Very fun. Very Cool. I really like the abstract nature of this very temporary organic collection of work.

"Having them on the wall for a while was a lot of fun. They are a bit like those old psychologist ink blots so it was interesting to hear which ones people liked or even better hated. :) Strangely most people don't guess the paper source (you have to look pretty closely)"

It's very true. some of Tom's work has a Rorschach feel to them. Some have a grain of the wood feel to them. A few of the pieces struck me as having a marble or petrified wood quality and quite a few gave off a mystical almost anthropological aire as if from some Mayan or tribal village in Africa.

"Okay, waste and nature's inevitable reclaiming of the earth aside working with strange media like this makes you look kinda crazy to your friends."

I'm not sure if crazy is how I would look at Tom. Being temporary art and having a meaning beyond the disposable and cultural impact is what increases their actual value far beyond the materialistic one.

If Tom's friends look at him a little crazy it's OK. He's in good company. Take Food sculptures by Jim Victor, "Sculptor-Constructivist," redefine what playing with food is all about. Seriously take a look at his work! Or maybe take a look at the mystical beauty of Sand painting to the fragile spectacle of Ice Sculpture. Even barista latte or coffee art. All very temporary. All very wonderful. Crazy? Maybe but then again . . .

Back on May 12th, 2006 I wrote an entry called What Came From the Artists Was Very High Concept. It was about a show, Menu: edible elements of art, at the Kirkland Arts Center feature some very incredible artists and works created from food products. Take a look at some of images from the show. Again, very crazy people with very crazy artwork!

One of the goals of this show and the Kirkland Arts Center was to show contemporary art in an area that historically hasn’t embraced it. This was approached with the idea of using food as the theme so everyone could connect with the concept.

One of the exhibits at the Menu show I noticed the individual sculptures not only had food in them but each one was a different type of diet. The furthest to the left was a very health diet and the furthest to the right was packed full of Dick’s burgers and greasy fries! To go even further the health diet sculpture had a resemblance to a healthy hourglass figure while the further to the right you go the more bulbous and unflattering the sculptures became. I loved this piece and yes! It was crazy.

This article isn't about the Menu show but about some very cool and maybe crazy artwork created out of temporary materials using coffee as the medium. I wanted to shed some light on what a lot of folks don't know about or haven't considered true art and that is the beauty of something that is done for the artistic value and not for the consideration of monetary value. It's created. It's exists for a period of time. It conveys a message or aesthetic or concept. Then it passes into memory.

Tom's work, or at least the fish eye images of them will stay with me for some time. Thanks for sharing Tom!