packaging as content

January 3, 2010

Melissa Martin’s Parental-Packaging Sculptures

“Mama’s Milk” 2001, altered milk carton, pvc, spackle and paint

Two artworks by Brooklyn-based sculptor, Melissa Martin, both feature extended packages and are each named after a parent: milk carton for Mama; egg carton for Dad.

“Dad’s Dozen” 2001, altered egg cartons, polystyrene, spackle, paint

Both sculptures remind me of Tom Friedman’s elongated Quaker Oats box, but “Dad’s Dozen,” extended as it is to 3 dozen capacity, also reminds me of Thierry Delva’s “48 Dozen,” which had layers of 3 dozen (3 egg cartons) in a stacked column of 12 layers. (…and all of this attention to aggregate egg carton stuff with multiples of 12, somehow reminds me of Carl Andre’s numbers-based floor arrangements.)

(Another parental-package-related sculpture by Melissa Martin, after the fold…)

“Father” 2005, chewed gum, Styrofoam trays, plastic wrap, and faux refrigerator

“Father” was a sculpture of my Dad, made from gum that I chewed and sculpted into 175 pieces of body cross-sections and organs cleanly packaged and labeled as meat products in a market. During its exhibition, these pieces were sold by the pound, at prices accordinging to the standards of the meat industry.

–Melissa Martin

Randy Ludacer
Beach Packaging Design

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