Why did the chicken cross the road?

WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE ROAD?

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LINDSEE

WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE ROAD?

PLATO For the greater good.

ARISTOTLE It is in the nature of chickens to cross roads.

SOCRATES Why do you think the chicken crossed the road?

RALPH WALDO EMERSON

FREUD

The chicken did not cross the road… it transcended it.

CHARLES DICKENS It is a far, far better road that he crossed than he had ever crossed before…

HIPPOCRATES Because of an excess of phlegm in its pancreas.

KARL MARX It was an historical inevitability.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY To die. In the rain.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE But soft, what bird on yonder asphalt trots?

DARWIN Chickens, over great periods of time, have been naturally selected in such a way that they are now genetically disposed to cross roads.

EINSTEIN Whether the chicken crossed the road or the road moved beneath the chicken depends upon your frame of reference.

BUDDHA Asking this question denies your own chicken nature.

BILL GATES I have just released the new Chicken Office 2000, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your checkbook.

The fact that you are at all concerned that the chicken crossed the road reveals your underlying sexual insecurity.

You see, to you the road represents the barrier between what is and what might be.

What is… is you in front of the computer screen, practicing celibacy, peering into your mother’s womb, wishing to be suckled at her breast (in this case, at the teats of internet knowledge and passive acceptance), hating the reflection in the screen that reminds you of your father, thinking how you life can never measure up…

What might be, only the chicken knows, now that he has crossed…

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. I envision a world where all chickens will be free to cross roads without having their motives called into question.

RICHARD M. NIXON The chicken did not cross the road. I repeat, the chicken DID NOT cross the road.

Art is not about itself but the attention we bring to it.

— MARCEL

DUCHAMP

inside cover flap, detail; Idea From A Large Painting (Series of 12) oil on canvas / 23 x 23 cm / 2013

WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE ROAD? TO GET TO THE OTHER SIDE… This famous joke first appeared in a New York Magazine in 1847.

It has been a classic ever since, generating numerous creative and hilarious answers from people all over the world.

The joke became popular because it was not really a joke. It is rather considered an anti-joke or a joke about jokes—because the response is a straightforward answer rather than a funny twist.

Filipino contemporary artist and taxidermist Lindsey James Lee “Lindslee” (b. 1979) comes up with an exhibition using this famous question, “Why did the chicken cross the road?” as the title for his show. And just like the anti-joke, Lindslee’s art brings to mind, anti-art, not only because his art is about Art but rather his works are a form of confrontation and provocation that often questioned the value of art. Anti-art, an offshoot of the Dada movement is a term often used to describe aspects of Conceptual Art that loosely describes a wide variety of artistic approaches and attitudes that exhibit a rejection of prior definitions of Art and challenges our understanding of it.

Lindslee, is primarily an abstract artist but whose recent works are beginning to show signs of moving towards conceptualism—

towards the rejection of what is considered traditional, two-dimensional works, or painting on canvas. Although his mixed media assemblages are sculptural in nature, his works express a conceptual attitude which had been seen in his previous shows, “Figuring Abstraction” (2008) and “It’s All in the Mind” (2013) — where he deconstructs or practically destroys his own paintings then reconstructs them—an act that seems to convey a strong urge to move away from traditional artmaking practices.

The show “Why did the chicken cross the road?” exhibits this continuing artistic evolution that was actually triggered in 2009 when numerous personal works were damaged due to the famous tropical cyclone Ketsana that flooded most parts of Manila.

The shock of seeing his works drenched in mud piqued his sensibilities that began a series of questions regarding the value of art, its sublime meaning, its materiality, its creation and destruction that finally led to the age-old question--- what is art?

Since that dreadful day, he knew that despite the physical state of his artworks, his art still exists.

From then on Art as subject matter has become a foremost concern in his works.

“Why did the chicken cross the road?” is a collection of mixed media assemblages that primarily utilizes “stuffed” chickens of various sizes and maturity as part of a series of parodies that poke at art,

its practitioners and viewers.

Taking on various human roles, the chicken is sometimes the artist, sometimes the critic and sometimes the viewer– in works that oftentimes offer us a literal display of wit.

Such is the work, “One-man Show,” that finds a handsome rooster perched on a 6 feet tall stack of colourful 18” X 18” actual paintings by the artist that expresses the pressure an artist faces to come up with numerous works for a solo.

Another work referring to the artist is, “Art by the Book” where a “stuffed” chicken dripping with colourful paint, a ripped canvas over its head, stands on a thick book on art. The work examines the artist’s struggle with originality and the influence of art books.

“That Pork is Deep”, is another vertical composition where we find a painting of a pork chop set deep at the bottom of a tall glass case that seems unreachable for the white rooster who sits high above the encasement, recalling images of works by contemporary conceptual artist, Damien Hirst’s glass encased animals. The work is a parody about how viewers sometimes assign “deep” and profound meanings to works that are as common as everyday household commodities.

Once again, as in his previous show, “It’s all in the Mind,” Linsdlee does not spare the critic from his editorials. In the work simply titled, “The Critic,” Lindslee puts a huge fat hen

inside a glass case dotted with magnifying glass—literally referring to how critics closely examine works. The hen stands on an elaborately framed painting and produces multicoloured poop—signifying the critic’s colourful use of words in describing art.

Lindslee is a product of the University of Sto. Tomas’ bachelor degree of Fine Arts, one of the Philippines’ premier art colleges where he was trained the rudiments of traditional artmaking—from classical to abstraction which he practiced for many years before shifting gear towards mixed media.

Since 2002, after Lindslee took up a few short courses at the Art Students League of New York, USA, his outlook in artmaking, specifically mixed media had been completely revolutionized, his mind, opened to the endless possibilities of this art form. The Art Students League of New York is an atelier run by artists for artists where students are immersed in various forms of artmaking with “emphasis on mastering skills and visual thinking” while well-known artists with years of experience act as mentors for the students. Founded in 1875, some of its famous students were Georgia O’Keeffe, Jackson Pollock, Robert Rauschenberg, Mark Rothko, to name a few. (seetheartstudentsleague.org) Asked what this experience has done to his attitude towards art, Lindslee says, “Maybe it was the lifestyle of the artists there that has affected my outlook on life

and art. I became more patient, grateful and open minded about art. I also saw how most of the artists I met did not treat their art as a livelihood. They did not compromise their art for the sake of survival.”

His present collection of mixed media works in “Why did the chicken cross the road?” is a playful and witty exhibition that utilizes the artist’s knack for taxidermy in his anthropomorphic chickens. It is a technique that has offered him countless imaginative possibilities where he is able to express his observations, his frustrations, and laments in a world that he loves...the art scene.

So now, do you know why the chicken crosses the road....?

Laying Paintings taxidermy chicken, pilled empty canvas, pillow with plaster and spray paint / 84 x 53 x 51 cm / 2013

All Question Without Instructions taxidermy chick, plaster and oil paints on canvas with acrylic glass cover / 35.5 x 32 x 32 cm / 2013

top & bottom left; Oil Painting oil paint on canvas / 23 x 23 cm / 2013

top right; Packing Up Traditional rolled paintings / 156 x 145 x 6.5 cm / 2012

top; Answer In A Form Of A Question paint brush and acrylic glass on canvas 43 x 295 x 25 cm / 2013

right; Where’s The Brushes? paint brushes / 117 x 19 x 5.5 cm / 2013

top left; Sneak Peek / acrylic, oil on canvas 122 x 122 cm / 2013 bottom left; Lost Instinct / acrylic, oil on canvas 122 x 122 cm / 2013

top right; Idea That Can Change / acrylic and oil on canvas / 122 x 183 cm / 2012

left; Trap / oil on canvas / 152.5 x 213 cm / 2013 top right; Are You Down? / oil on canvas 122 x 122 cm / 2012

left; Contemporary Painting Of An Egg / oil and enamel on canvas / 152.5 x 183 cm / 2013 top right; Design Painting / acrylic, oil on canvas 175 x 305 cm / 2013

That Pork Is Deep / taxidermy chicken, acrylic glass filled with water, oil painting / 188 x 65 x 27 cm / 2013

WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE ROAD?

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LINDSEE ISBN 978 - 981- 07- 8324 -2 PAPERBACK

978 - 981- 07- 8325 -9 E-BOOK

cover; The Critic taxidermy chicken, acrylic glass with magnifying lens, framed oil on canvas painting / 49 x 51 x 51 cm / 2013

I am interested in how I could change or reinvent art, as we normally understand it-- either from the perspective of history or as a movement.

Sometimes I like to challenge the viewer by distorting their idea or expectations with regards to art. I give this a twist to give it a more critical concept either by simplification or exaggeration or by injecting humor. I do this in order to reveal truth in my work as I investigate the various influences that play around art such as its commodification, art as luxury or art as movement, and its role in society.

In order to convey my ideas, I like to transform the space in my installations by combining ready-mades and constructed materials such as paintings, taxidermy, molding and casting along with found objects such as construction materials and use these as symbols that will articulate my concept.

Art for me is a process of communicating my ideas with as many tools as I can possibly use. I don’t want to limit myself when it comes to artmaking. Art is what gives my life meaning and investigating it further is my quest.

— Lindslee

TAKSU is a leading contemporary art gallery and specialist in Southeast Asia. Representing selections of fine art with distinctive urban edge, we are at the forefront of contemporary art in this region. TAKSU works to forge a platform for established and emerging artists to share their pool of creativity and knowledge through its residency programs and exhibitions. Encapsulating the true meaning of the word TAKSU; divine inspiration, energy, and spirit.

Suherwan Abu Director, TAKSU Galleries

Essay Rachel Mayo Graphic Design Jeffrey Lim / Studio 25 Printer Unico Services Artworks & Images © 2013 Lindslee This publication may be reproduced in any form for academic, editorial and/or non-commercial purposes without special permission from the artist(s) and gallery, with acknowledgement of the source. For other purposes, prior consent is needed.

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_ ISBN 978 - 981- 07 - 8324 -2 PAPERBACK

978 - 981- 07 - 8325 -9

TO GET TO THE OTHER SIDE… E-BOOK