Refrigerator Art

Periodically you hear an artist or gallerist or curator or critic posit the definition of what exactly is Refrigerator Art – and where it belongs, who should do it, who can talk about it, who can see it, and who can put it on sneakers. The topic usually wends its way through outrage and umbrage; charges are made, credentials are laid out, points are counted, offense is taken and some dumb-butt is finally put in their rightful place.

If a Refrigerator Artist created a stencil for the refrigerator and then they used that same stencil and spray can to create a piece on a canvas, does it stop being Refrigerator Art?  If a museum or collector commissions a well-known Refrigerator Artists to create a brand new piece to be displayed in a show, has that artist become detached from their Refrigerator roots and are they now a Jellout?  If the refrigerator has been discarded and is now on the sidewalk waiting for the Sanitation Department, is this Public Art, Ephemeral Art, or a Temporary Sculpture Installation? And what if that Sanitation Department truck hits a giant friggin pothole and the refrigeration flies through the air and lands on a dancer in her leotard smoking on the sidewalk outside of class?  Is it Refrigerator Performance Art?

Maytagger, a respected New York large appliance artist who’s been getting up since back in the day when there was no “Refrigerator Scene” has no stomach for spoiled newcomers who do a couple of pieces, snap them with their smart phone and then rush to publish them on Flickr or a so-called “Refrigerator Art” blog.

“We created art for the refrigerator, not ‘Refrigerator Art’.  The Internet and galleries have ruined everything. This stuff is limp – we were crisp.  It actually kind of boils my brocolli because a lot of these kids out here today just use markers and crayons and stick their paper to the fridge with a magnet or clip – that’s not real Refrigerator Art. If you don’t use finger paint and scotch tape you’re announcing to everybody in the kitchen what you are; Snack Meat.”

Whatever your take on it, and let’s face it, everyone has an opinion about Refrigerator Art these days, it’s not likely to slow its ever-evolving permutations on iceboxes across the world today.  We’re going to keep chasing the fridges even if they roll out of of kitchens and into the museum. Whatever you call it, we’ll keep plugged into the exploding refrigerator scene as long as it keeps running.