The Coke Tree

I think i haven't laughed out loud in an art gallery for a while. Not like i did last week when i popped in to see Thing by Dell Stewart and Adam Cruickshank. I try to not act like a goofish fan around these kids, but then they go and do this great little show in the skinny gallery at Bus (where i'll be showing later in the year, ahem, thankyouverymuch) and, well, I can't help it.

It's a little show, about little things. Random bits of symbolism and whimsy, care and the carefree and the art of looking sideways. And stuff.

My absolute favourite bit - the one that had my giggles resonating through the gallery, was the interview about The Coke Tree. It is 400 years of philosophy, 3 years of art history, a lifetime of healthy cynicism and the kind of copywriting most of my adfolk wished that could capture (IMHO, of course).

I'd love to reproduce the whole thing, but in the interest of getting you lazy readers to see the show yourselves, i'm going to show restraint and just post a little bit. However, when you go to the show, pick up the catalogue - the whole thing is on the back there.

Anyway, go see the show, it's rad.



Q: To begin with, could you describe this work?
A: Yes, of course. What I"ve done is change a glass of cola into a full-grown coke tree without altering the accidents of the glass of cola

Q: The accidents?
A: Yes. The colour, feel, weight, size....

Q. Do you mean that the glass of cola is the symbol of a coke tree?
A. No. It's not a symbol. I've changed the physical substance of the glass of cola into that of a coke tree.

Q. It looks like a glass of cola.
A. Of course it does. I didn't change its appearance. But it's not a glass of cola, it's a coke tree.
...

Q. Could you teach others to do it?
A. No it's not something one can teach.

Q. Do you consider that changing the glass of cola into a coke tree constitutes an art work?
A. Yes.