S.P.E.E.D. (Rapid firing spit wad shooter).

Nathan Dube was the first artist featured on Today in Art when I launched the site in November 2007.  Since then I have changed the style of how I post and I wanted to revisit Nathan to feature more of his work.  I love the childlike nature of his work as it invites the viewer to interact with it.  Another wonderful touch is the instructions that come with many of the pieces, illustrated like a comic.

The appearance of each piece affords the object a level of authority, convincing the viewer that each piece is the result of years of industrial research and development for actual products. At the same time this authority is subverted by the absurdity of each piece’s function. For instance, the piece entitled S.P.I.T., which functions as a spit-wad shooter, is extremely detailed, exquisitely crafted and constructed of precious materials. These eclectic toys are meant to comment on the absurd lengths men will sometimes go to in order to recapture their youth.

– Nathan Dube

There is much more to see on Nathan Dube’s website so make sure you stop by.

S.P.I.T. (Saliva and Paper Instigating Trauma)

S.P.I.T. - instructions

S.N.I.P.E.R.

S.I.G.H.T. (Laser sighted spit wad shooter).

S.N.E.E.Z.E. (Stimulating Nose to Encourage Extra Zippy Explosion).

For that close shave without the burn.

Tags: brass, found objects, metalsmithing, nickel, sculpture, silver

This entry was posted on Today in Art on Thursday, February 25th, 2010 at 2:17 pm and is filed under metalsmithing, sculpture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.