Milton Ernest (Bobby) Rauschenberg 1925-2008

Milton Ernest Raushenberg (mas conocido como Robert Rauschenberg) murió este lunes 12 de mayo de un paro cardiaco. Le tomé este retrato con Juan Carlos Lafontaine. En aquella época haciamos música industrial electrónica en un grupo que se llamaba Das Happy. Lo conocimos en una comida en la casa Gilardi diseñada por Luis Barragán. Mientras el maestro del collage hacia chistes sobre chiles bebimos la botella de Chateneuf du Pape que me había regalado la pulga cancelando la posibilidad de descorchar esta con mi amor platónico de la preparatoria. En aquel entonces comenzaba el Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Exchange con una exposición en México.

Recuerdo haber leído a Octavio Paz acusando en los sesentas a la obra de Rauschenberg de ser un "ejercicio de buen gusto". En aquella época este comentario debió de haber sonado absurdo y provocador en relación a ensamblados con cabras pintarrajeadas en el hocico con una llanta encima. Sin embargo si vemos la vóragine y el prolífico exceso de collages y gráfica de su última época en el que se repitió ad infinitum en una cacofónica y estetizada diarrea visual, el comentario de Paz es premonitorio. El sutil gesto de borrar un dibujo de De Kooning acaba resultando mucho mas importante. 

High n' Low Rider.

After Monster Garage rejected the High n' Low Rider project I made a series of photomontages with new designs. A pick up truck would not fit in the majority of galleries or museums. The idea now was to make a scissor lift that would perform its regular functions and could dance and transform into an interesting sculpture. Some of the collages were more fantastic and extreme, making interesting graphic work. I showed them at OMR Gallery in Mexico City trying to convince them to use them to sell or pitch the production of the object.

An Art Project for Monster Garage.

Some time ago I met Ken Vose. He was writing a series of books for the television show Monster Garage. In them he included Alien Toy and The Garden of Earthly Delights. He asked me to propose a project to the show. On the show they customize cars to do particular unique challenges such as transforming a hot dog cart into a dragster or a Toyota into a mower. I suggested grafting a scissor lift into the bed of a pick up truck so it could be used in a museum to do the lighting or install artwork. The challenge for Jesse James (the famous biker and star of the program) would be to install art and do his antics in a museum. At the same time I was invited by Nato Thompson to participate in the exhibition The Interventionists at Mass Moca. The idea of the show was to “explore the works of artists who intervene in a greater public to bring attention to critical ideas.” This piece would have intervened the museum space with car culture as well as television and popular culture with art. At the same time this artwork would have revealed the work behind the installation of a show. At the end Jesse James did not want to do it. Apparently he wasn’t into the aesthetics and philosophy of “low n’ slow” suggested by hydraulics or being legitimized by a museum did not mean much to him.

These are some of the first sketches of the High n’ Low Rider.