Someone is having fun. Serious fun. Serious art but fun. Art but seriously funny. OK – enough from me – take a look at metalsmith Nathan Dube’s exquisitely crafted toys and pranks for grown up kids and kids that don’t want to grow up.
S.N.I.P.E.R., silver, nickel, brass, spring, paper
S.N.I.P.E.R. allows the user to take aim at a few tradition pop culture male role models
My current work expands on this idea of childhood, exploring its relationship to masculinity, and the mid-life crisis. The work uses childhood pranks and toys reinterpreted as high-end adult toys. The appearance of each piece affords the object a level of authority, convincing the viewer that each piece is the result of years of industrial research and development for actual products. At the same time this authority is subverted by the absurdity of each piece’s function. For instance, the piece entitled S.P.I.T., which functions as a spit-wad shooter, is extremely detailed, exquisitely crafted and constructed of precious materials. These eclectic toys are meant to comment on the absurd lengths men will sometimes go to in order to recapture their youth.
For that close shave without the burn
Brut aftershave, electric razor blade, silver, Pyrex tubing
This piece smells of Brut aftershave
I love the smell of smoke in the morning
sterling silver, strike anywhere match heads
Smoked for 18 hours in a barbeque pit. Smells of smoke.
My early work explores the connections between memory and the body’s senses. By using the body’s senses, particularly the sense of smell, memories can be triggered allowing the viewer to reconnect with the past. The works are reliquaries for intangible individual events and experiences. The smells of perfume and aftershave act as mnemonic devices that trigger similar memories in the minds of the viewers.
Nathan Dube’s website – where the big boys can find more toys. . .
