Albertus Gorman - Homage to Mr. Potato Head

Homage to Mr. Potato Head; mixed media piece using found objects from the Falls of the Ohio State Park; made by Albertus Gorman

Dimensions: 17.25” x 11.25” x 6.75”

"Among the many stories and myths we tell each other is that we are actually trying to recycle much of the plastic we have created.  As someone who pays attention to the existential plastic threat, I haven’t seen any convincing evidence that this is happening and certainly not on any scale.  For twenty-five years I have collected and observed the plastic problem as it has presented at the Falls of the Ohio State Park in Clarksville, IN.  In that time, I have simply seen this issue be kicked down the road with no let up worldwide in the amount of plastic we create…mostly for single use purposes.  If anything, humans have increased the amount of this petrochemical material year after year.  We tell ourselves stories to help us feel better as we hope for a positive outcome within this very finite world.

My found objects/materials sculpture, Homage to Mr. Potato Head is certainly an absurd work of art, but also emblematic of a transmutation or drifting away from the natural world to one that is increasingly artificial.  In the actual early history of Mr. Potato Head, he began as a real vegetable (not just a potato, but other veggies too) that you added plastic features upon to make the character.  Over time, the emphasis on the real was dropped and Mr. Potato Head transitioned overnight to an all plastic potato body where he remains today.  A genuine potato, afterall, does spoil and smells evil if left to rot under the couch.  Mr. Potato Head was also the first toy advertised on television which led to its widespread success, but it also opened up a can of worms on how human behavior and selling psychologies could be exploited against us to cause us to desire what we do not need.  I have often wondered about how toys made from plastic and marketed to children don't in fact implicate them in the overall plastic problem?

The only natural elements of this sculpture are its wooden base and the freshwater clam shells that comprise its ears.  The rest is all artificial materials that I have collected off the riverbank.  Because these materials weren’t given the dignity of recycling or disposed of in a responsible manner, I feel that I can create without worrying about mistakes or ruining costly materials and that is a very free place to create from."