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Flo Lunn and Cal Rhodes: Live Free or Die
Vedanta Gallery "Live Free or Die" is a collection of photographs by Flo Lunn and Cal Rhodes who have documented not only places they've been, but also a menagerie of shenanigans they have staged. Together since they've met on a Hollywood movie set, these two New York artists are showcased rather sparingly in Vendanta's large gallery space on the city's west side. In this series of photographs, Flo Lunn and Cal Rhodes take us to a number of locations around the world, staging events as much as participating in their environment. Initially viewing these works, a couple items strike me off the bat: First, the overall quality of the photos are nearly snapshots. Second, the photos hold their focus for being enlarged to 50" x 50". Third, the composition is fairly well thought out and "learned." Fourth, the photos are undoubtedly staged. Fifth, there doesn't seem to be a purpose behind them; nothing obvious, anyway. Still, there is an intelligence behind the foolishness. In staging these fairly ridiculous photos, there are obvious allusions to contemporary "entertainment" culture surrounding L.A., television, and movies. And there's a certain youthful naivette about the photos of which Viva Las Vegas, 1994 is wonderful example: Cal Rhodes, dressed in a leather outfit is posing rather oddly next to a swimming pool. The outline of his posed figure mimicks the outline of swimming pool. He's obviously been for a swim in the pool with his outfit on. Sun tents in the background add to a circusy feel or the buffoonery of the entire photo. Another photo in the series, Pool, 1994 is taken in a similar setting, but is simply Cal swimming in the middle of a pool, though this time, the photo looks more like an advertisement shot for Channel no.5. What also appears to be a series of two, Bonk 1995, and Pump 1994 appear to be taken at the same gas station. Almost as if the two wanted to document this part of their trip somehow, and dreamed up a couple scenarios to shoot their snapshots. In Bonk, Cal is dressed like a motorcyclist -- drunk, tired, asleep, passed-out, whatever, in front of an old-style (circa 1960's or 70's) gas pump. There is no obvious clue in the photo why the motorcyclist is there, how he got there, or why he is passed-out in front of a gas pump. We don't see his vehicle, and we don't see anymore of the actual location in the photo. Pump has Flo posed with the gas pump hose drawn between her legs as she pumps her vehicle with gas. Dressed in a tight shirt and boy-boxer briefs, Her body is arched slightly in order to make this gas pump the sexiest part of her entire trip. Two other photos taken in a desert somewhere called Moses, 1995 and Pharoah, 1995 place our two hooligans at the top of a hill of sand. Both photos are basically of overgrown children acting out their Egyptian fantasies. In Moses, Flo in dark-blue blue-jeans, poses half-naked, on her knees in a 3/4 body position, her back towards us; we're just able to make out that at least one of her nipples is pierced. Her shirt is pulled up to her forehead and draped back over her hair in mock of an Egyptian headdress. She looks at the camera half in disinterest, half in a skeptical stare. Pharoah just places Cal on top of a hill of sand, again in dark-blue blue-jeans and half-naked, and on all fours, traversing the sands of the desert. No more story to tell.
Fag, 1998 places Cal and Flo like martyrs, naked in a circle of twigs ready to be torched, and this image is in turn, is replaced for the stars in a crude American Flag. Flo has an unlit cigarette waiting to be lit. An obvious image of typical American "rage against the system" where those expressing their opinion expect to be crucified. Where in reality, most Americans take their freedom of expression for granted, and therefore, makes this scene just a little contrived. Fag is a fantasy scene of two "rebels" that screams "we martyr ourselves for our freedom of expression." Now, if Flo and Cal had placed themselves squarely in the extreme of moralistic and artistic freedom of expression, this image would make more sence. However, since their imagery is at worst PG-13, I hardly think Jesse Helms would object too strongly to their art, and therefore Fag becomes nothing more than a novelty image. At most, these photos invoke a Cindy-Sherman-like facination of the self. In each photo, our hapless heros are the real subject, participating in their environment in a theatrical, fake manner. Whether there is a little more formal staging as in Wall Street, 1997 (Cal dressed in a business suit walking up the stairs of a neo-classical Wall Street facade), or the less formal staging as in Moses, 1995, or complete lack of any staging as in the blurred bull-fight in In the Ring, 1997 (where you don't know if that is Cal's head in the foreground, or someone else's head who happens to have hair just like Cal since all you see is the back of the head). The 50" x 50" size of the photos tend to make up for the fact that these are really snapshot photos. I can't really see any process behind their themes. That doesn't make them any worse off for photographs or works of art. I'm sure many people could search through their photolibraries at home and find something equally suitable to blow-up and frame that would be comparable. Still, I found I like this series of photos because of their lack of reverance, and their youthful naivette. The colors and composition are good enough to match a good modern sofa. Their subjects are not controversial, but rather fun and whimsical, and entertaining. The two artists seem to be poking fun at art, the entertainment industry, and themselves, and they are obviously having fun doing it. They also seem to have realized a kind of happiness in traveling, staging, and selling their snapshots, and I applaud that. Many people will take most of their lives to find what makes them happy. --Richard Donagrandi |
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