Junk Art

Comments by Bay Area artist Jerry Ross Barrish at the panel discussion that I thought were interesting:
1) Early works utilizing junk found on the beach in Pacifica (where Jerry lives) cannot be replicated. They are documents of their time. At any given day a particular kind of flotsam & jetsam ends up onshore, so a specific work of art could not have been created earlier or later in time.
2) When Jerry Ross Barrish started to cast some of the plastic sculptures in bronze so that they could be better displayed outdoors, critics bade him "Welcome to the World of Fine Art". He was so irritated that he actually stopped producing bronzes. He resents the notion that the sculptures made from plastic found objects should not be "real art."
It was also fascinating to hear about the Artist-in-Residence program at San Francisco Recycling & Disposal, presented by program manager Deborah Munk. I recommend you check out the website, the program's amazing!
Jerry Ross Barrish, who is a very personable guy, invited the audience at the MAH to visit his studio and Deborah Munk let us know that we can tour the facility's Sculpture Garden. That would be one great day of art in the city!
(Photo by Mel Schockner)