Monday, February 25, 2013

On Creating Reality by Andy Kaufman at Maccarone















The Maccarone gallery in the West Village produced an exhibit of artifacts from the life and times of Andy Kaufman. The items included puppets and scripts from his early years as a local children's show host, portions of his record collection, the iconic costumes of Tony Clifton and other characters, scripts, private letters and diaries spanning his career, and other ephemera.

It was both great and very weird to see Andy being recognized in the context of the art world, and like most things Kaufman it raised more questions than it answered. Intention, identity, and (appropriate to the title) reality are all intentionally obscured throughout Kaufman's work, and seemingly his private life as well. Who was the "real" Andy Kaufman? Was there such a thing? Is it art? Does it matter? 

More information and better pictures can be found here