Junk is in the Eye of the Beholder
The Cathedral of Junk is a treasure that keeps the city of Austin weird. This art scripture weighing 60 tons of junk that towers over the backyard of Vince Hannenmann the artist who created the Cathedral. This art is placed and made on the private property of the artist and is only accessible by appointment. There in which individuals get a one on one with the artist and ask the thousands of questions that are circling around this sculpture of junk.
There are two types of audiences. Those who look at art directly, straight to the point. The other type of audience looks at the art in depth, figuring out the meaning behind the art piece. The first type can look at waste and directly associate it with a piece of junk. The other type of viewer can look at junk and think this was made for art This junk has a purpose. Personally, I identify myself as an in depth art audience. I wanted to go deeper with this “junk”. How is this Cathedral of Junk related to our perception of art? Why did this artist create a 20 year old growing attraction? What pushed this artist to look at junk beyond it being trash?
Austin as a city is known for their art and culture, it was built for being extraordinary. Austin can not be placed in a category or box. Natives in this city express Austin’s authenticity is dying. Real art is being washed away and replaced with mediocrity. Originality is becoming rare, and replaced with trends. Described as the few last relics of Austin, Vince Hannemann is one of the few Austin artists that keep Austin weird. He embraced his art and becomes his art, with Vince there is no personality that coincides with the art. Down to Earth and humble are the words I would describe Vince Hannemann.
The Cathedral of Junk was created by Vince Hannemann, it is no surprise Austin is a weird city. Weirdness and individuality are commonly associated with something negative in our society. We shouldn’t look at weirdness as a negative cognition. The expression of being weird is not following the status quo, individuals stick out, and it is different. Austin sticks out. The city’s creative wise is unique and the art speaks for itself. The people speak for themselves, the music speaks for itself, and city life speaks for itself. I tie this into Vince Hannemann’s work in a process art piece to the Cathedral of Junk. Some might imagine Hannemann’s expression of art is nothing ordinary, but in fact, this expression reeks of originality. For an individual to dedicate 20 years of their time, and their personal home to express their art and then share it to the world takes courage. Hannemann has expressed his love for this art piece, which is famous for Austin’s tourist attractions. He explained the work to be his “baby”, and grew an attachment to his work. This cathedral is younger than I am but has a story just as significant as mine. Growing an attachment with an inanimate object isn’t irregular. For something that took 2 decades years to build and see growth. When asked what the goal or reason for building such art he simply explains how this art piece was not planned. What was once a childhood hobby that quickly grew into his lifestyle? Vince was met with trial and tribulation with this sculpture growing, Vince had to accommodate the city and neighbors. It is somewhat impossible not to consider the art piece an extension of yourself.
Characteristics and individuality are the best way to describe the material used to create the cathedral of junk. I would describe this work of art as a mosaic This junk is unique but comes together to create a singular art piece. One piece of junk standing alone doesn’t have substance or a story, it’s just there. Multiple pieces of junk created a story, and context that draws people into the art piece. On the one hand, this art piece is a sculpture with various random pieces at once, and it is a lot to take in all at once. On the other hand, as individuals who dive deep into the art piece realize and interpret a story, there is a meaning behind every piece the artist decides to add. The point I am trying to draw is that two things can be correct and coexist with one another. This tower is 60 tons of pure junk. Each piece is a random object collected over time. The cathedral is located in Hannemann’s backyard. It is a private property but is open to the public Monday-Friday. The length of time it took to make this art piece should be consistent when analyzing the form and content. It took 20 years to build the tower and it is still in process, as the artist is still adding on the tower. What does this junk mean? Why is this sufficient? We can go back to my original statement about how the audience looks at art. It all depends on the eye of the beholder, one can look at this piece and automatically relate it to waste. One can also look at this piece and think of the patience it took to see the results it is today.
This piece is unique in itself, I divided my description of this cathedral into categories. These categories are items I have seen in the art piece being repeated. That is the best way I can describe the items in fine detail.
Form and color: At first glance, the tower is a lot to take in, it is hard to describe with just one word. While staring and exploring at the art, form starts to take shape, and can use imagery to categorize. This tower is sturdy and functional, individuals can walk up the stairs and stand on the roof. The pieces are forged together in a unique puzzle to where when met with wind or water it becomes stronger. Color and how it is organized in the tower go without notice. The artist discretely organizes the color in the range and mixes different objects with the same color. The appropriate really separates the junk from actual art. This “junk” has meaning… this “junk” is organized so your eye catches and pays attention to detail. With form and meaning art is just mundane and fixed, but once you dance and create movement and reason. That is when art speaks beyond the canvas or dare I say a leaning tower of scrap.
The glue: Every art piece needs a stable foundation, whether that be wood on a canvas or wire connecting all the pieces together. In this case, the Cathedral of Junk is fused together by store wire and fits like a puzzle. Items like boards and larger stand-alone, while smaller items like knickknacks are either welded together or glued. The secondary material used to solidify the sculpture is cemented brick that is on the perimeter of the cathedral. The cement is interlocked with random rock and adds stability to the sculpture.
Decoration: The Cathedral of Junk in itself is a decoration in one piece but I looked in detail . The artist does a good job of showing the audience what he wants to stand out more amongst the junk. The addition of hanging CDs added a personal touch to the tower, the material is shiny and reflects the light. As well as functioning furniture, the artist added furniture in addition to the junk. The stand-alone chair placed in the center of the cathedral creates hierarchy, the coffee table to the right of the chair completes the chair.
Street artifacts: While reviewing and visiting the cathedral noticed the repetition of street items being stop signs, traffic cones, and even logos and signs. I interpreted how Vince was able to obtain these items, assuming these pieces were picked as random and along the way. I identified the street signs first because that was most familiar to the eye. The reflection of the sun’s contrast with the street signs further helps identify these items as items picked up from the street.
Car parts: amongst the many items I picked out, the larger items I saw repeated were car parts. These car parts range from tires to half an engine, and materials consist of rubber, metal, and oil remains. The secondary usage and rough edges gave the art piece a sense of charter and usage. These items were once used in another form and are now in the backyard of an Austin artist. Diving deep into the recycling of an item not used for its ideal function. We can appropriately reflect that to living a life, individuals might have an ideal purpose in life but in the end, is your life ideal for that purpose? The car part once used to help a car function is now taken out of its ideal role and used for art.
Souvenirs: Along with the collection of junk the items the item that stuck out the most were travel souvenirs from different parts of the world. We can assume the artist has collected these souvenirs over time and choose to display the items in a way that catches the eye. Each souvenir has a story, as an audience we can identify with a specific souvenir we find important. From the author’s perspective, He can tell you where and how they received the souvenir. When asked where in fact we receive the souvenirs and items Vince expresses how he is gifted these items by individuals that see no use in their junk. In fact, all the souvenir that was acquired over the years has a story and Vince has an explanation of every piece he put in his art.
Creativity is motivational. It pushes artists to be open minded and never shrink their ideas because of the negative cognition of sticking out. Creativity isn’t linear, it is a spectrum. Being creative is a vague term for some reason. It is an umbrella term for individuality and further sharing that creativity with the world. Being open-minded on subjects that are unfamiliar, normalizes the act of not understanding what the context of an art piece is. Creating space for questions and leaving room for open-ended questions is the mindset I set out when viewing this tower. Limiting my predisposition and going solely for the art and the artist. I looked at the work with a blank mind. Just like they say don’t go grocery shopping hungry, sniff coffee beans when testing scents. That is how I approached this work. A mistake I made when viewing previous art, was creating expectations that may or may not be met. Creating an idea of what I should enjoy, in some cases ended in unwarranted disappointment. This tower of creativity forced me to think beyond and enable judgment once I have had time to understand the context.
Interpretation is the name of the game. How individuals interpret art and process it within themself. There is no right or wrong way to view art, we shouldn’t be placed into categories when viewing an art piece. We can learn from artists like Hannemann to step outside the status quo and be weird. Staying within limitation is a restriction, dare I might say boring. Artists who step out of their comfort zone help another artist to create creative pieces. Understanding an object isn’t ordinary until life and meaning are introduced. Another person’s trash can in fact be another person’s treasure.