Conventional wisdom says that to make a splash in the art world, you need a couple of things. One? Novelty or newness; call it an affection for youth or the next thing. And two? You should be attempting outlandish or big or strange things in your art, the better to build your own path and myth and legacy.
But, of course, conventional wisdom is often not just erroneous, but flat-out wrong. Take LA's own Richard Jackson, the multimedia maverick who is currently enjoying a wide-scale retrospective at the Orange County Museum of Art in Costa Mesa.
Mr. Jackson has a few decades of working under his belt, so novelty isn't necessarily his thing. Strike that convention down. But he does go the distance on trying out stuff that no other artist is trying. Exhibit A? The 28-foot-tall dog sculpture currently lifting a leg over the Orange County museum.
The artist also invented a painting machine involving an old Pinto and two over-sized spinning orbs. Name? Painting with Two Balls.
Picture the car on its side and the balls spinning paint in all directions. Actually, you don't have to picture it; MOCAtv shared this video of the man at work. He clearly thinks big, but you may feel the need to don a plastic smock while watching the process.
You may also want Mr. Jackson to invent more devices that can get other things done. Do you think a car on its side with two giant spinning balls could clean our refrigerator or do the dishes? We're dreaming.
