Artist, Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt: The ‘80s was the Reagan era, then AIDS come in and all my friends are dying. But I never want my art to just be locked in as a kind of isolated gay thing. The art is for everyone.
Hi, my name is Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt, and I'm talking to you about a sculpture here from 1985, The Cuckoo Egg Cup Under Spilling Plastic Flowers.
It's maximal, so it's about a million different things interplaying. The Cuckoo Egg Cup, the original one, was made by Fabergé from gold and jewelry. It was for the Russian royal family. The plastic flowers are presented with dignity, as something that is part of a world where people can't afford a Fabergé. That's why they might have plastic flowers.
The Pat Boone record is called “Anastasia” and it's about the Russian royal family.
[Excerpt of Pat Boone's “Anastasia”]
Pat Boone was presented as what would be considered white, wholesome, dull, plain. And Fabergé was never dull, and the Russian royal family was never dull. That world spliced in with the American kitsch world is what the piece is about.
I grew up in a Catholic neighborhood and the wakes were fantastically visual events, with tons of flower arrangements that all tried to outdo each other. There was also the thing called 40 Hours Devotion that when I was a little boy influenced me the most. It was a ceremony that was lavishly visual. All the lights were out in the church except this display with a real blast of light and color, with flowers all over it and everything. I remember just feeling so delightfully overwhelmed by it.
Art gives us the freedom to have that joy of a sensual experience. My art is about the liberating aspects of decoration. And the enjoyment of decoration.