December 30, 2005
Paul Thek
Here’s a Paul Thek sculpture, called Blind today Deaf tomorrow (1969/71, 65 x 64 x 25 cm) which I’m guessing is part of one of his larger installations/environments. Paul Thek is probably best known for the Technological Reliquaries series, which were made in response to the Vietnam War. He abruptly stopped making those pieces when he realized he was being referred to as the “Meat Man” and went on to make everything from paintings to installations and more. One of the most amazing ones is The Tomb-Death of a Hippie, which you can read about here. Paul Thek died in 1988, and a lot of his work, including incredibly elaborate installations such as The Tomb, has been destroyed. The Paul Thek Project was started this past summer in order to document and contextualize his work, much of which cannot be recreated.