Mock Hats Make Great Fun

First Night Sketch - digital sketch - laptop finger painting
12/31/2007 - First Night Monterey - Dan Beck

Last night,

Last Year,

- a small group from Salinas made a showing of some of our art and culture at First Night Monterey - the giant hats you see - were made from foam rubber by some Everett Alvarez High School Students.

From what I understand they dove right in to recreate the Claes Oldenburg sculpture found in Salinas - Hats in Three Stages of Landing. Its current state is loaded with under-rim graffiti - not pictured here - but the kids put the authentic finishing touches on.

The views and interactions with the foam hats were sketched on a laptop with finger painting in- precision - quick and childlike - like the interactions - the scene with young man’s torso covered, kids underneath, photo ops for everyone - dogs - Santa hat - flashing bunny ears - different hats and hair - and a later seen person on stilts added to the scene quickly with this almost cartoon-like feeling.

See Also

• Claes Oldenburg & Coosje van Bruggen: Large-Scale Projects - photo index of many large scale public works
• Digital Art - the broad definitions and thus the amusing aspect of finger sketching what could as easily be documented digitally by photography