What does skateboarding have to do with contemporary art? For sculptor David Brooks, both hinge on pivotal moments that provide what he describes as “a reality check.”
When Brooks moved to New York to attend the Cooper Union in the early 1990s, he explored his new surroundings on his skateboard. Though, as a kid, he had dreams of going pro, eventually Brooks turned to art and began a practice centers around investigating the relationship between humans and culture, and the built and natural environments they live in.
In the video, Brooks recounts some of his major works, including , an installation at MoMA PS1 in which the artist planted dozens of trees and then sprayed and poured concrete over them in an attempt to recreate the deforestation of the Amazon.
“We’re so desensitized to imagery of violence, both in terms of a landscape, but also in terms of a culture” Brooks tells Art21, describing the project as a way to “tether reality right back to it, just like skating, there is no ideology behind hitting the pavement.”
Production still from the Art21 “New York Close Up” film, “David Brooks Hits the Pavement.” © Art21, Inc. 2017.
Another project the artist mentions is (2016), where he disassembled a 1976 John Deere combine harvester, and arranged the hundreds of parts for display. Combines are used to cut corn, break down kernels off the cob, and clean the grain, Brooks explains in the video. Similarly, “the exhibition breaks apart this piece of machinery into thousands of pieces.”
Right now, at the Planting Fields Foundation in Oyster Bay, New York, an exhibition of works by David Brooks is presented alongside art by Mark Dion, who also investigates complex ecosystems. The show, titled “The Great Bird Blind Debate,” will see both artists present interpretations of bird blinds, used by birding enthusiasts to observe their subjects.
New York Close Up,
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Source: Exhibition - news.artnet.com
