Perspective: PetulaD found suburban Burning Man in a weird, art-encrusted cottage on an ordinary street in Maryland
A. Clarke Bedford sits on the front steps of his art-encrusted house in Hyattsville, Md., known as “Vanadu.” By Petula Dvorak Petula Dvorak Local columnist Email Bio Follow Columnist March 25 at 1:53 PM His front door slowly creaked open and a woman walked into his living room with four of her friends closely behind her.
It’s a house totally encrusted with metal, glass and tossed objects painted, molded, bolted, twisted, sawed and drilled into art, like a coral reef that has grown more complex, sculptural and fantastical over the years. It’s Burning Man done by a man who has never been to Burning Man.Bedford, a former conservator at the Hirshhorn Museum, has turned half a dozen cars into an art installation. “I’m sort of a homebody,” he said.
“It takes great technical and historical knowledge to pull off this feat. Bedford obviously has both. For example, his shadow-drenched ‘Humpty Dumpty at Notre Dame,’ in which an eggheaded statue replaces the usual brooding gargoyle, caricatures Charles Negre’s seminal 1850s series on the architectural details of Notre Dame.”
I know some art words. And I can try to use them to describe what Bedford does. Outsider art, folk art, Dadaism, steampunk, Victorian modernism all with an upcycler ethos? And then he couldn’t stop. He has six cars now — the Saab, as well as a van, a bus, a Volkswagen Beetle, a Volvo and a Chevy Caprice wagon. All of them are drivable. Not practical, though. When he recently sawed into his thumb and had to drive himself to the hospital, he had to consider which car would fit into the parking garage. None of them, really.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Perspective | Elizabeth Holmes’s weird, possibly fake baritone is actually her least baffling qualityPerspective: Elizabeth Holmes’s weird, possibly fake baritone is actually her least baffling quality
Read more »
Perspective | How the free market, and not Wall Street, can ensure more Americans share in prosperity
Read more »
Man linked to largest art heist in history freed from prison
Read more »
Ichiro says goodbye to adoring fans; Mariners beat A's in 12Ichiro Suzuki was showered with cheers and chants Thursday night while taking his final bow in a magnificent career that lasted nearly three decades when the Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics 5-4 in 12 innings. The 45-year-old Ichiro went 0 for 4 in the second game of the Major...
Read more »
MLB notebook: A's 1B Olson out after hand surgeryOakland Athletics first baseman Matt Olson underwent surgery on his right hand F...
Read more »
Review | A local author turns suburban drama into smart satireJulie Langsdorf always considered herself a writer, but success took time — and a big life change.
Read more »
Poisonous toads infest suburban Florida neighborhood
Read more »
Perspective | Washington is a politics town. Can the Kennedy Center make it a destination for political art?In its second year, the Direct Current festival spotlights refugees, nuclear disasters and contemporary Americana.
Read more »