Electricians try their hand at abstract art
By Associated Press, 6/13/2003
BEACON, N.Y. (AP) The phrase, "I could do that" is often heard at
modern art museums.
Some electricians working at the Dia:Beacon museum tried to prove
it.
After viewing abstract sculptures by John Chamberlain crafted with
materials such as crushed automobile parts, a group of
electricians created their own work and placed it alongside
Chamberlain's.
About a week passed before anyone noticed the addition to the
exhibit, featuring such works as "Norma Jean Risen" and "The
Privet."
"We saw some artwork upstairs," David Vega, the group foreman,
told radio station WNYT in an interview to be aired this weekend.
"We tried to imitate it see how long they'd take to find it.
"And a couple of guys who were walking about, around it, they
didn't even notice it," he said. "It was just for fun."
Workers setting up the exhibit discovered and removed the piece
before Dia:Beacon opened to the public May 18, said Amy Weisser,
the museum's assistant director.
"The electricians made a sculpture, an homage to John's work," she
said. "When the art installers saw it, they knew it wasn't John's
work. This was something that wasn't mistaken as a work of art by
anyone other than the electricians."
The museum threw away the electricians' sculpture.
The Dia:Beacon occupies a restored printing plant on the Hudson
River, 60 miles north of New York City.
