Got Drunk, Fell Down

The Way Things Are , 2012 3 unique painted steel sculptures

Chris Hanson (b.1964, Montréal, QC) and Hendrika Sonnenberg (b. 1963, Toronto, ON)

Chris Hanson and Hendrika Sonnenberg's three sculptures take the form of functioning street lamps doing some particularly "human" things. The diptych Got Drunk, Fell Down features a fallen light standard, while a second lamp seems to look on with concern. Fountain illustrates a biological need not frequently associated with keeping our streets illuminated after dark. This playful installation points to mischievous behaviours often witnessed in our cities and waterfronts. The work of Hanson and Sonnenberg is compellingly humorous and regularly transforms familiar objets in unusual ways. Central to the artists' collaborative process is a sense of "agreement" which frequently begins with the presentation of a situation with which the artists hope a spectator may find sympathy. Their work often involves common building materials. The colour that the lamp standards are painted refers to their best-known body of work, in which they carve every day, utilitarian objects, such as a chain-link fence, a broom, even a full-scale ice resurfacing machine, from green polystyrene foam. Chris Hanson and Hendrika Sonnenberg met at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (Halifax) in 1982. Their collaboration has brought them international critical acclaim. They presently work and live in Brooklyn, New York. This installation coincides with the exhibition entitled - Hanson and Sonnenberg: The Way Things Are at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia from June 22 - September 21, 2013

HALIFAX - ART GALLERY OF NOVA SCOTIA - DEVELOP NOVA SCOTIA