Something Wicked This Way Comes...

Living with Ghosts

Living with Ghosts, Steel, Cloth, Dimensions variable, work in progress, 2008

Detail

Stay on Message

Stay on Message, Steel, mixed media, 200cm x 200cm, 2008

Finally!!!! I have the bulk of the piece done, 40 some figures in all and it's quite a presence. Some 6 months since the initiation of the piece.

Still growing! I promised more and this is the latest incarnation of the piece "Stay on Message". Even more will follow...

Ok, you can see it's beginning to take shape. The final destination will be a circle 2 meters in Diameter. If you look closely a faint purple line drawn on the wall is visible which marks the dimensions of the finished project.

Stay on Mesaage is an ongoing project that I am working on that as of yet is unresolved. The project is basically made up of people that are holding signs that convey certain messages. The idea is either to make a multitude of small individual figures or to actually bind a number of them together to make one larger piece. As of now I have made quite a few, here are a smattering. More to come...

Lovely Rita....

Now that's a big Baby!, Steel, 147cm x 87cm, 2008

A portrait of the child of some friends (Rita being her name), something riveting about the naturalness and ease inherent in the body language of children. Blowing it up in scale gives it a super presence in interior spaces, more on this piece later.

The after from the before...

The After from the Before, Steel, Cloth Doll (Made by Melkorka Reynisdottir), 120cm x 95cm, 2008


This piece was done as a commission from a client that had seen the piece "Fun on the playground". For me it was interesting to investigate the same theme but from the standpoint of a grown up as opposed to a child. The result is at once melancholy and nostalgic.

Never let them make you feel like a Clown

Never let them make you feel like a Clown, Mixed media, video, 90cm x 55cm x 50cm, 2008

We've all had humiliating experiences with customer service whether it be in person or on the phone. I always end up wanting to throw myself or someone else off a bridge. This piece is my homage to the experience.

Kenny just might be Illuminated...

Kenny just might be Illuminated, Mixed media, 56cm x 24cm x 7cm, 2008
A small piece that I improvised a bit with. These later pieces where I am incorporating more found objects and so on are a great opportunity for me to let my imagination run wild. Normally I see an image and it changes very little in the realization, with these works the piece realized in steel becomes the canvas as opposed to the finished piece.

Max at his father's table

Max at his Father's Table, Steel, glass carafe, 193cm x 145cm x 4cm, 2008


This is a piece that I had been wanting to do for awhile. Initially i had wanted three figures but in the end stayed with one. The subject is a friend Max Zinnecker at what he considers "The only piece of furniture that has any value to me that I own...". It's a table that was his father's when he was a student.

Start @ Zaum Projects in Lisbon

I'm involved in a great new project/gallery of Stefanie Santa and Miguel Duarte in Lisbon called Zaum Projects. Their inaugural exhibition will be held on the 16th of May. The opening group show "Start" presents the works of the artists of the gallery. The 400m2 of new exhibiting space will host artworks by Ana Rito, Caitlin Masley, Carlos & Jason Sanchez, Catarina Lira Pereira, Erik Geschke, Frank Plant, Gabriel Colaço, Gilberto Colaço, Isabel Baraona, Jeff Eisenberg, Jeremy Mora, Katrin Korfmann, Maya Schindler, Michelle Forsyth, Samuele Belloni and UIU.

We're all so complicated....

In the end we're all complicated, Steel, Mixed Media, 57cm x 52cm (for the moment), 2008

Going back to my roots in using found materials and other objects to flesh out an idea. After working so graphically for so long it's a joy to involve some other materials. More on the content later.

New Show in May: Frank Plant @ Galeria Contrast

On the 15th of May I will be having the Inauguration of a solo exhibit here in Barcelona. Anyone who reads this within a 300km radius will be obliged to come. More to come.

Collective Ennui

Seeing as lately I am very interested in documenting social dynamics and relationships in my work it was just a matter of time before the group of students I work with at Metafora Tallers International fell prey to one of my pieces. The original material was taken last December at a meeting planning their end of term show. I decided to paint it white as I'm also interested in investigating how a piece fits in it's environment as well as the level of protaganism it has. The white pieces are much more subtle and the viewer has to work more for it's appreciation, the role of the shadows also becomes more important. This piece also goes a long way in showing just how much the wall above my couch needs a coat of paint... More detailed pictures shortly.

The Artist takes a Fall

This piece is a reflection on my current tendency as an artist to pontificate or preach. It is also an opportunity to think about the fine line that sometimes separates or not art and propaganda/ideology.

The Artist Falls Off His Soapbox, Steel, 102cm x 54cm, 2008

Paperless Marks @ Galeria ADN

On March 27th I will be involved in a group show at ADN galeria

Room 1: Paperless Marks: A. Benchamma, J. Galdón, F. Noguera, F. Plant, Qubo Gas, M. Quintana
Room 2: Federico Solmi The Evil Empire
Opening: Thursday 27th of March 2008 at 7.30 p.m.

Closing: Saturday 3rd of May 2008
Hours: Tuesday to Friday, 10h-14h/16h-20h and Saturday, 11h-14h/17h-20h30

c/ Enric Granados, 49, bj, 08008 Barcelona ▪ T +34 93 451 00 64 – info@adngaleria.com
For further information and hi-res images, please contact: Susanna CorchiaRRPP – e-mail: info@adngaleria.com, T: +34 934510064

Paperless Marks

Abdelkader Benchamma, Jesús Galdón, Fleur Noguera, Frank Plant, Qubo Gas, Marc Quintana
Five artists and one group are meeting together to show new proposals connected with the expanded notion of drawing. During their artistic growth, each they has been developing productions related to drawing, painting, animation or illustration and has been facing several aspects of this technique. Two are the main vectors motivating this exhibition: on the one hand, all the works belong to drawing realm although without the use of paper; on the other hand, works disclose a consideration about landscape and staging, both natural and abstract, human or urban.

The same title of the show enhances this real conceptual and technical challenge: a stimulation toward the investigation of expressive and creative ways, typical of the fresh and open moment which contemporary art is enjoying.

One day you too can work in Advertising!!!

One Day You too Can Work In Advertising, Steel, Old Socks, 105cm x 94cm, 2008

A new piece touching on a the idea of another aggravation that humans are subjected to on a daily basis. I'll let you determine what that is.

The Big Guy trys to Raise the Level of the Discourse by Hurling a Large Gravy Boat

The Big Guy Tries to Raise the Level of the Discourse by Hurling a Large Gravy Boat, Steel, Ceramic Gravy Boat, 50cm x 23cm, 2007

Further investigations with three dimensional objects playing with scale and the absurd. A happy addition to anyone's dinner table. More to come.

Kids

As of yet unnamed, Click on image to see larger

This is a new series that I'm working on involving children and stuffed animals, dolls and other objects of importance. With this in mind I want to investigate not only the open, relaxed nature of the children but bring attention to the bond sometimes formed with their toys and or everyday objects. In these cases it's only a suggestion as the objects were added later after the models were photographed. The dolls will be made by a variety of people and provides me a chance to incorporate other artists work with my own. Also I continue to mix two dimensional and three dimensional objects as well as color and black and white. For me the contrast gives the pieces a vitality. Keep your eyes here for more in this series...



Marcel & Sara, Steel, Cloth Doll (Made by Melkorka Reynisdottir), 110cm x 75cm, 2007



Celia, Steel, Cloth and Plaster doll (Made by Jenny Sorenson), 131cm x 62cm, 2007


Neu, Steel and Cloth Doll (Created by Christopher Plant), 111cm x 88cm, 2007



Milla, Steel and Cloth Doll (Created by Brian Sanders), 94cm x 50cm, 2007

Liberty

Liberty, Steel, Plexi, MDF, LED's, 109cm x 97cm, 2007
(Technical support provided Remi Melander)

This is a piece that I've had lying around unresolved for ages finally got to resolving it, the LED's actually blink. It's another piece dealing with social issues that I felt compelled to do concerning a certain countries drifting away from it's responsibilities towards it's citizens.

Baby Jesus Welder

Baby Jesus Welder, Steel, 63cm x 100cm, 2008

I have always loved religious iconography and have had this version of a Raphael painting that I did sometime ago lying around. Thought it might be a good way to start the new year.

Hierroglyphic/Frank Plant

Hello, my name is Frank Plant and I am an american artist based in Barcelona, Spain. I work in steel and often times am bending it into peculiar forms. Sometimes I am just welding it into normal functional things as well but I try to avoid that when possible. This blog will serve as a space that I use to document some of the projects I do as well as some of the peculiar observations I have. My friends, family, benefactors, neighbors, students, co-workers, etc., etc... will also probably knowingly or unbeknownst to them haunt these pages. I will also on occasion invent new words to see if the general population is actually paying attention and if we are on the same page. I hope that you will glean something entertaining, curious and or enlightening in these images and thoughts. So by all means read on.

That's me looking for inspiration in the twisted vortex of popular culture, not for the meek, I would not suggest trying this at home.

Fun on the Playground

Ainara, Steel, Cloth doll (Created by Melkorka Reynisdottir), 140cm x 60cm, 2006

This is the first experiment in a new series that I am working on involving children and dolls and is a collaboration with an Icelandic artist Melkorka Reynisdottir. The impulse was to further investigate mixing 3 dimensional media with my more traditional 2 dimensional platform of the drawings in steel. More info to come shortly.

Waiting....

"La Cola", Steel bar and Plate, 270x110cm, 2007

Does your service provider make you feel your back's against the wall?

Ever hear the expression "Don't get mad get even.". This is my response to the treatment a certain spanish telecommunications service provider gives to their customers. Local regulatory commissions and the Spanish government turn a blind eye. The Spanish consumer has to look to Brussels for help as they seem the only ones to stand up and recognize the problem. The european union telecommunications regulatory commission recently slapped a certain Spanish company with a €500 million fine.
The piece involves the viewer placing on one of the gloves with the guilty company's logo printed on it. The figure in the piece has his back to the viewer and his pants around his ankles. There is a hole where his anus is, there is a red glowing from within. The viewer, with the glove on, places his finger in the anus of the figure, four centimeters in there is a button which when pressed triggers a scream (there are four tracks). This piece is a fairly direct representation of the treatment I feel the Spanish consumer gets from the local Telcomm giants. More pictures and video to come.

Taking it to the Banks revisiting Goya

"When They Come Looking For Their Money (They won't care if your Vasque, Catalan, Andalusian or Gallegan)", Steel, 287cm x120cm, 2007

Banks are a necessary evil. Banks provide individuals with opportunity's to finance projects that would otherwise be impossible. The new house, the new car, business development etc... In my opinion they almost always have some very unsavory business practices, business being the key word. After all it is a business and hence required to make money to survive. Regardless from my current situation in Spain not only in the banking industry (pieces on other Industries to come) I've found a number of practices that as I said before seem to me foul. I won't go into a litany of my grievances I'll let you use your own personal experiences to fill in the blanks.

Francisco de Goya y Lucientes, 3rd of May 1808 in Madrid: The Executions on Prince Pio Mountain, 268 cm x 347 cm, Oil on Canvas, 1814

Goya's "3rd of May 1808" was my point of departure. It is a seminal work dealing with the execution of Spanish rebels outside of Madrid by Napoleanic forces that were occupying Spain at the time. And for me the work is very inspiring. Drama in lights and darks, composition and content. Goya is considered a national hero and this work a testament to Spanish courage in the face of adversity. I wanted to work with some of the same material but give it a contemporary slant.

Detail of the Executioners

In this particular instance the culprits are the banks and the victims the Spanish public. I'm certain banks are more or less the same the world over I just happen to live in Spain at the moment.

Sequestrados/ Hostages

Hostages, Series of 6, Steel, Mixed Media, 55cm x 20cm (each), 2007

This series has two objectives, the first was to capture in my language the desperation and the degradation that people who are sequestered are subjected to. This train of thought began from an image i saw as part of an article in the New Yorker. The article "Betrayed" by George Packer (New Yorker, 3/26/2007), is about the treatment of Iraqi's who have been playing support roles for the american army during the war there and how the american army or certain elements of it have come to make life impossible and excedingly dangerous for these people. In the article appears an absolutely gruesome and appalling image (above) of an unidentified man's body that has been left discarded on a roadside trash heap. This image haunted me and made me think about the liberties that we so often take for granted without having to fear that someone was going to drag us out of the house in the middle of the night off to the local garbage dump for a bullet in the back of the head.

photo by Christoph Bangert

The image ingrained itself into my head almost to the point of obsession, one thing was obvious I wanted to work with the image. I scanned the image and did a drawing and at the moment it's still in progress but you can see it in it's current state below. I like it's current representation beacause it's not immediately evident what it is and hence the viewer has to work a bit to determine the material.

work in progress, steel, jute

From this point of departure I continued to develop my line of thinking but limit it to people being sequestered not assassinated. It's all to often that when the news roles around we are confronted by some journalist, public figure, or just some innocent bystander bound and gagged with some armed revolutionary guards standing heavily armed close by. Mind you this is not a practice that is solely exercised in the middle east nor is it my intention to focus on any given region. My ambition is simply to introduce the brutality of these images into another arena in hopes of giving the viewer an opportunity to digest and reflect on these situations in a different manner. It is in no way my meaning to trivialize these occurences. The following images were taken from photos that I made of people in my studio and any resemblance to other images of a similar nature is coincidental and due to the subject matter.

Hostage #3, Steel, Jute, Plastic bag, 55cm x 22cm, 2007

Consumer advocacy or the lack there of

Hostage #1 The Stupid Consumer (El Consumidor Estupido) , Steel, Jute, Fabric, 55cm x 22cm, 2007

Hostage #1 brings me to the second agenda i have while developing these series. Hostage #1 is a piece that developed when i reflected on how everyday citizens are often, through misinformation, clever marketing, half truths, simple oversight, under education and sometimes just sheer stupidity are duped into situations where they are legally bound to something that is not in their best interest. In a sense held hostage. My specific focus now is in Spain because that is my current experience. Here I feel there is no tradition of safeguarding consumer rights and it is well documented that Spain lags behind in opening up certain markets to 'real' competition. This maintains a sort of government approved monopoly where the consumer is held hostage to the whatever power happens to be in control in that particular industry and whatever price they value there product at. Recently the european union overstepped the spanish telecommunications regulatory commission and fined Telefonica, the local 'Grande' in telcom, over 150 million euros for what it saw as unfair market practices concerning the the provision of Bandwith to it's customers. That leaves alot to the imagination as to the links between Telefonica and the local regulatory commission in charge of monitoring it's practices.
Recently in the region of Catalunya, whose capital is Barcelona, after a fire in an electric substation vast areas of the city were left without light for days on end. It has come to light that the whole system is dangerously inadequate for the demands that are placed upon it and that the local power company could almost be considered criminally negligent in allowing the situation to degrade to such an extent. Hospitals, public transport, traffic signaling systems, etc. were all left without power and a series of flatbed generators had to be placed in strategic points across the city to serve as a makeshift solution. generators that emit more noise than legally allowed in public spaces as well as compromising the air quality as they are all diesel generators. One would think if they don't give you choice they should at least provide stability. Thousands of people and businesses were compromised to the point where the government had to step in and oblige compensation for those affected. On one side one could argue that perhaps prices need to be raised to maintain the upkeep of the system, on the other side one could argue for more transperency and truly effective regulatory commissions that provide the security and confidence that paying customers deserve. This work is by no means meant to devalue the experience of people who are forcibly and violently held beyond their will worldwide. It is meant to draw a strong parallel between such actions with those of organizations that have an obligation to provide basic necessities but through the application of what could be considered sinister business practices are responsible for the degradation of millions of peoples lives.

Sunday on the Terrace

"Sunday on the Terrace", 350cm x 120cm, Steel, 2007

Recently I went to a brunch on the terrace of a friend of mine in the neighborhood of Barceloneta. These brunches are normally replete with a staggering mix of people from all over and are hosted by connector extraordinaire Sandy Brunner, an architect native of Zurich. I have been going to these brunches for a few years now and in fact one of these brunches a few years back also provided the source material for a drawing in steel of a group of sardines which Sandy now owns. Anyway at a certain point I began to note the variety of postures people were assuming while laying in two plastic reclining lawn chairs that were on the terrace. People were assuming the most relaxed and languid positions that I began to think that I might be able to do a piece involving the material. Out comes the camera.


This is the first image that really made me think about the potential of using this material in a piece. It's a photo of a friend, Fery Rohrer, and it served as a point of departure for the creation of "Sunday on the Terrace". My desire with the piece was really to capture a completely normal moment and all the poetry inherent in it. Each individual posture is an incredibly complex equation which I believe can communicate alot about a persons current relationship to their surroundings. By doing four figures I have also created an imaginary dialogue which can actually be manipulated by changing the positions of the figures.


This piece is also exhibited on Sandy Brunner's terrace. It seems that her terrace is a spot that I find inspiring.