Unusual
visual exhibit at the Reineke Gallery Move over, Paris Hilton, it's time for...stuffed animals? The fuzzy plush creatures associated with small children and Valentine's Day have taken a turn for the dirty. With the title "Cheap Toys: The Search for Satisfaction," a mind could wander many ways and, chances are, the further it wanders with this exhibit, the more right on it will be. Hearing and reading the slogan ("A chance for stuffed animals to get lucky with real soft core") could only further solidify the dirty thoughts running through minds. So, is it really what one would expect? Yes. The Reineke Visual Arts Gallery exhibit is very visual with neon lighting and a kind of comfortable, homey setup of a comfy plush chair and a television set. But, more visual than that, are the stuffed animals in very "interesting" positions...sex positions, if you will. So, just how exactly does someone come up with something like this? And how is it considered art? Christina Johnson is one of the contributing artists. She, along with her husband, Gerry Gallenbeck, and brother, Brian Johnson, got the idea after winning countless stuffed animals from Skill Cranes. (Pop in a quarter, maneuver the tool and score.) Then the innocence of it all suddenly too a much-unexpected turn. The compromising positions came in as the trio indulged in low humor. "This installation is about trying to recapture our childhood or, more specifically, the easy, shameless joy that can be found in childhood," Christina Johnson said. But, the artists' defense, the stuffed animals are sexless, so, technically, they can't really be graphic or too dirty. "We didn't place the toys in these sorts of positions because we wanted to be dirty or offensive. We did it because the entire notion of cute little stuffed toys mimicking adult actions is utterly absurd," Christina Johnson said. Dirty and sick or fun and amusing? The choice is yours until Dec. 19 because, now, looking at stuffed animals will never be the same. © Shannon Gwash 2003 |