by carol elliot carol6@comcast.net
You Call This Sculpcha? The mixed media art exhibit by Georgia-based The Brother’s Tummy opens this weekend in The Gallery at Screen Arts in St. Augustine. From 6 p.m. to midnight, Friday, October 6th. Live DJs will spin music. Visual artist George Long and perplexing sound master Mario Schambon combine forces to put together site specific installations in the gallery space. This assemblage of sculpture speaks volumes for them. The Brother’s Tummy (Long and Schambon’s alter ego) provides a way for the two men to make fun of each other, just like brothers do. Their work can also be classified as subtle social commentaries.
Long and Schambon met while attending the Atlanta College of Art. Interviewing both artists over the phone from their custom metal works place of business in Roswell, Georgia, Schambon said that those days of higher education were a Mecca for him. The foundation for “the formal stuff” was laid. He also said it was a “hot bed” to work with the other artists. That was from 1994 to 1996 after which Schambon took a job to make some extra money as facilitator of art for the Summer Olympics. Ten years later Long admits the price of a large piece of sculpture they call “Boobie Lure” could pay the current balance of his student loans.
“What we have put together are a series of sculptures, not erotic, but, instead, fertile in nature,” Long told me. The fertility can be interpreted as the gluttony of stuff and of life. One of the main parts in a particular piece is the cherub (a symbol for fertility) overflowing with chotchkies (every day objects in the home.)
Besides free standing work, “The Brother’s Tummy” creates wall art and also sculpture placed on pedestals. The men add “found objects” which were not necessarily “found” but rather “hand picked.” Long has been a collector for years. A leftover piece of material from a day’s work (metal work not always the creative kind by their own admission) can be part of the gathering process. “One rule I try to maintain is to not over-conceptualize what I am doing,” says Long. “I don’t want to be too aware.”
Although admittedly they hope this exhibit will “blow some minds”. They also are keeping it somewhat academic. Jiggle Boy, a kinetic sculpture, is destined to intrigue anyone who sees it.
This is not Long’s first time at The Gallery at Screen Arts. In January, he exhibited his signature wall art 8 x 8 squares of different depths using all kinds of materials. In 2004, Long did an installation at JMOMA (Jacksonville Museum of Modern Art) in Jacksonville.
In addition to visual art, Schambon’s background as a percussionist inspired him and Long to create a 16 ft. long discophone similar to a xylophone. Last year, it made a hit in Atlanta’s Freedom Park. Schambon told me his wall pieces are an extension of his paintings. “I’ve been working on the outcome of that,” he adds. The subject matter comes from many sources. “It could be mythology or social theory,” he says. “Anything goes.” His architectural influences pertain to physical bodies such as the way crystals form in cell biology as opposed to the architecture of buildings. Really…
Gallery Director Rob DiPiazza never interferes with the process of artists creating their art. “We embellish the exhibition but we don’t necessarily explain the art to viewers,” comments DiPiazza who went on to say that The Gallery at Screen Arts has built a reputation for attracting eclectic original art. “Because of that reputation visitors expect to see something challenging and interesting.” The Brother’s Tummy definitely meets this criterion. Although Long and Schambon work individually and collaboratively, this show is exclusively George and Mario working together,” adds DiPiazza.
The Gallery at Screen Arts is located at 228 King Street, two blocks west of U.S. 1 in St. Augustine. The show will run through October 31. For more information, call 904-829-2838.
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