Abbott and Costello meet the Wolfman and the Mummy and The Phantom of the Opera: mrflip, Feature Photo: Corey Leopold
Without a doubt, all artists are influenced by their environments, but perhaps not so much as Scott Wade who makes compelling images from a substance most regard as a nuisance and the Federal Highway Administration regards as a hazard: dirt on the windshield.
…and The Phantom of the Opera and Dracula
and Frankenstein: mrflip
Wade is a Texas artist who lives at the end of a dirt road that coats the driver’s rear windshield in seconds. This may have been the impetus for the work, but as you can see in this video, he’s developed the process into a science, now requiring an even application of dirt blown with a hair dryer onto the wet sponge prepped glass.
Photo: charles2010
The ephemeral pieces are washed clean by the elements, presenting fresh opportunities to create.
Surely a people pleaser, you might not believe Wade is making any statement at all with his virtuosic subtractive process.
While many artists invest their egos in the preservation of their work, Wade sees the temporal quality as a plus and a metaphor for life itself saying, “It’s a very…spiritual message, too… We’re not here forever…You gotta just enjoy life as it goes by.”
Community Connection
Matador is all about art for the people. Check out our Street Art Focus Page for more art that gets exposed to the elements.
Kate Sedgwick
Kate Sedgwick edits Matador Nights from Buenos Aires where she organizes her live storytelling project, Second Story, and stays busy giving art tours and doing yoga. Read more about her than you might want to know at her blog YesThereIsSuchAThingAsAStupidQuestion.com.
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http://www.expatheather.com Heather
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http://joshywashington.wordpress.com joshywashington
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http://yesthereissuchathingasastupidquestion.wordpress.com/ Kate Sedgwick
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