Gallery Submission

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Name:

Carolyn Reynolds

E-Mail:

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Concept:

Among the Australian Aborigines there is a practice of celebrating the spirit of the deceased by engaging an artist, preferably one who does not know the dead person, to carve a "Pukamani" pole. The pole is usually carved and painted with symbols which come to the artist in a dream and is made of wood that will decompose in time and return to the earth, just as the deceased.

I propose to construct a pukamani pole to commemorate the Unknown Artist, myself included. Since it is not known when Unknown Artists die, the pole will be made of ceramic mosaic and stand permanently in commemoration for all of us, whenever. It will be composed of bits of antique tile and china, made by unknown artists, and incorporate Aboriginal design. Its very nature will attract taggers whose graffiti will symbolize the decomposition of aesthetics .

Let this stand in the Memorial Park for all those whose parents made them go to law school instead of art school, for those who went to art school but were undiscovered, and especially for those who died running arts organizations.

Bio:

Carolyn Reynolds was formerly Director of Performing Arts Programming for the Arts and Entertainment Network and was one of the original fossil executives of that network when it launched in 1984. For a second act, she was Director of Festivals and Special Events at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC. Act three finds her happily gardening, making garden ornaments and walls for enthusiastic clients, and occasionally developing a program for television. She lives in Santa Cruz, California.