~HAPPY NEW YEAR: JOCKO WEYLAND & ELK GALLERY !!
THINGS THAT STAY, THINGS THAT GO
DANNY TINNENY’S SELECTIVE SALVAGE
DEC 11, 2009 – JAN 3, 2010
ELK GALLERY – 426 PRESIDENT ST. – BROOKLYN – NY
HRS: FRI-SAT/1-7PM
JOCKO WEYLAND wrote us a lengthy, but worthy missive on this ‘alternative’ show on the glorious banks of the GOWANUS CANAL !! – the site of a one time on-site/found/rove exhibit under the ELK umbrella.
too bad we couldn’t make the opening – Friday, Dec 11 – supposedly they had bonfires going in 55 gallon oil drums .. and beer. but it was also the biggest rainstorm of the year. so go figure.
anyways, JOCKO writes:
“With Bond Street on one side, the Gowanus Canal on the other, bordered by
Carroll to the south and the cobblestones of President Street to the north,
“The Lot†is a repository of gritty and occasionally sublime readymade
beauty. Â Almost everything there has a functional purpose, though much has
stayed past its prime thanks to the preservationist instincts of Danny
Tinneny, the lot’s owner,  “arranger†and undisputed king. All these objects
help give the lot its unique character and often transcend their utilitarian
origins to enter the realm of the purely sculptural, combining undeniable
formal qualities and socio-historical resonance. Posing questions as to what
is art and what is not without essaying any dogmatic answers, the lot’s
contents blur that supposed boundary with Duchampian aplomb. An accumulation
of weathered, battered, and engrossing remnants of the Gowanus’ industrial
past and its more recent multi-use incarnation, the aesthetically rich
environment has resulted from both chance and judicious reclamation. Whether
it’s a peacefully decaying 1958 Oldsmobile 88, various bollards, a backhoe,
forklifts, a Grove crane, rusted dumpsters, bales of wire, oil drums,
numerous ladders, stacks of wood, sandbags, tires, and shipping containers,
they all are part of a not entirely accidental cement sculpture garden. Â Set
off by the big skies above the canal, ringed by an aluminum barbed-wire
topped fence, the weedy domain with its semi-feral cats hunting amongst the
detritus is evidence of a keen sensitivity to the appeal of what many
consider junk.
The lot has had many lives, first as a car salvage business and now as the
home to the office of a moving company, a woodshop, parking for movie
stylist RVs, and many other activities, including Macro-sea’s summer 2009
dumpster pool project, for which Tinneny was both enlightened landlord and
crucial participant. Now more changes are afoot, and before that
transformation occurs there is an opportunity to take stock of these sundry
inanimate things and see them in a new light. “Things that Stay, Things that
Go†contextualizes these gems that were saved on purpose (and some that
stayed just because) in a garage-turned-gallery and its courtyard. An homage
to the past and present, the inspired ad-hoc arrangement Tinneny has brought
to his workaday surroundings will be reconfigured into an installation
replete with aesthetic and historical allusions and minimalist charm. Tools
and useful implements’ impact on the sculpture of the last 100 years can be
pondered, as can the graphic material that was saved for decorative
purposes, seen through the prism of one man’s unselfconsciously artful
attitude toward debris. A collective wish to fully appreciate the lot’s
magical diversity is at work in this exhibition, from the fire call box to a
chest-high safe, the vintage matador prints, a tarp-covered AMC Javelin, a
toolbox full of 1940s records and  “The Watchman†mannequin, along with the
all the other selectively salvaged treasures. In this display machines,
practical devices and pictorial ephemera generate a nuanced tonal
conversation about volume, shape, and feel, as well as a chance to celebrate
Tinneny’s discriminating eye for the beauty inherent in functionally.
Directions: F train to Carroll Street Stop, walk east (towards the Gowanus)
on Carroll Street, left on Hoyt, then right on President. Go to the end of
the street through the gate into the lot and walk about seventy-five feet
until “Things that Stay, Things that Go†is seen to the right.
Presented with the cooperation and support of the Tinneny family and
Macro-Sea.”
there is an excellent slide show of the exhibit: on the ELK website !!
ALL PHOTOS BY ROB ERICKSON !!
here’s some favs – it was hard to edit them down . . .
inset photo of DANNY TINNENY – by JONATHAN KROLL.
looking good – or what !!?? GOWANUS CANAL !!
while you are on the ELK website – look around – it’s a nice little alternative cruise . . . with some real punch.
FOR SURE, don’t miss the ELK sounds: here !!
on the top right, under ONE ELK SOUND; ANOTHER ELK SOUND.
and the zines and the films and the books !!
note: JOCKO WEYLAND IS A WRITER, PHOTOGRAPHER, and CHRONICLER OF SKATEBOARDING, AMONG OTHER PASTIMES – in AMERICA. when we saw his film – ‘BEIJING SUMMER’ – under the ELK/FILMS archive – there was something about BEIJING, and GOWANUS CANAL – that resonated in our head.
of course – ALFREDO MARTINEZ – !! – former GOWANUS CANAL celebrity resident and current CHINA ARTIST-in-RESIDENCE !!
Jocko Weyland wrote that funny piece on ALFREDO for VICE !!
see: JOCKO WEYLAND on ALFREDO MARTINEZ !! in CHINA !!
for more on JOCKO WEYLAND, check out: RAW CHINA – PHOTOS BY JOCKO WEYLAND !!
and if you have 10 more mins, check out: JOCK WEYLAND on OPEN CITY – THE ELK & THE SKATEBOARDER !!
