The Farm | christineoatman

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The Farm

2009–17

This piece consists of a three part cabinet with the altered book, Save With the Duckbill Family, displayed at the top. The dual theme of farming and money is continued on the two shelves below in vignettes composed of three-dimensional vintage objects from the 1950s.

The altered book in this tableau :

Save With the Duckbill Family, (1952)

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This piece consists of a three part cabinet with the altered book, Save With the Duckbill Family, displayed at the top. The dual theme of farming and money is continued on the two shelves below in vignettes composed of vintage three dimensional vintage objects from the 1950s.

The altered book is a mid-20th century child’s savings book that actually holds coins. These books were given away at banks; and after the book was filled, the child ostensibly could return it to the bank and open a savings account. (Copy of unaltered book on side of pedestal).

The book is spiral bound and arranged in an axial format and is intended to be “read” in a counter-clockwise direction.

The first page introduces the protagonists of the story, the Duckbill Family, who are the frugal savers.

Pages 2 and 3. Establishes the three elements of the book: didactic poetry, spaces for coin placement, and story illustration. Also introduces the Duckbill Family’s negative counterparts who exemplify bad savers, the “lazy” pigs and “idle” cows.

Page 4 and 5. Story continues, emphasizing the Duckbills’ work ethic and earning capacity versus the pigs and cows. Vintage nickels, dimes and quarters in book, while dark with oxidation at the beginning, become increasingly shiny indicating the passage of time.

Page 6 and 7. Story continues with addition of book alterations that create two possible pathways: El Camino Real (on which the Duckbill’s cart of coins travels) and Camino de la Ruina, which is paved with well-worn credit cards. The latter alludes to the Great Recession of 2007-9, with its roadside signage referencing short sales, loans, foreclosure, and bankruptcy.

(Pp. 6 & 7, contin.) This oblique view shows how plastic and glass bubbles are emanating from the illustration on page 7. These bubbles, which symbolize the “bubble economy” of the Great Recession, increase in size as they alight on the road below. Camino de la Ruina extends to the edge of the pedestal where it then drops precipitously down the side.

Book continues in clockwise direction. Original ends with image of kids depositing savings with teller at bank. Last verse in book has been transferred to clear acrylic which now forms see-through wall of kid’s bedroom. This room becomes the end of the altered version of the Duckbills which has a different moral.

Moral at end of original book transferred to clear acrylic.

Moral of altered version is hanging in frame above child’s bed. As per this “Warning,” money is stored under the mattress as opposed to in the bank. [All furniture and fabric in this mini tableau has been purposely constructed of paper so as to integrate with book’s materials.]

There are two shelves on the cabinet below the altered Duckbills book. Both shelves combine the barnyard and money themes with vintage 3-D objects arranged in tableaux. The upper shelf features poultry, thus relating to the Duckbill family. The goose on the left was a bank; and it appears to have laid the proverbial golden egg. A string of gold coins hang from the ceiling and descend into the slotted opening on its back. On the right is another bank in the form of a chicken. The chicken has laid white eggs on which are written: “Don’t/count/your/chicks/before….”

In the back right corner is occupied by an opened child’s book, Old MacDonald’s Farm. [The 1/2”-gauge chicken wire pictured in the book is the same gauge as the real wire that encloses the front of the shelf.] In the far left corner is a vintage comic book featuring a large cartoon image of Scrooge McDuck using scissors to trim the paper money that extends from a closed safe. A pair of real scissors hanging on the wall nearby appears to cut the comic book. On the floor of the shelf is a combination of straw, shredded paper money and white and yellow poultry feathers. The walls are covered with faux plywood paper.

The vintage objects occupying the bottom shelf are pigs and cows, counterparts to the Duckbills’ nemeses in the altered book above, representing sloth, greed, and bad savings habits.

The background of the miniature tableau on the bottom shelf establishes a scene that is more distanced and less confined than that on the shelf above. The two back walls are papered with digitally rendered clouds combined with dollar signs. The sky descends to a bucolic green countryside and a tree from which leaves are falling. The tiny maple leaves are punched out of paper money. The colors and imagery of this scene segues into that pictured on the boxed Bobbsey Twins Farm Game leaning against the right wall.

The distance from background to foreground is exaggerated by a narrow brown road that begins near the tree in the background and winds down a hill where it widens considerably as it extends into the foreground. Fallen maple leaves punched out of paper money are scattered along the road, and correspondingly gradate in size.

There are three 3-D vintage banks incorporated in this scenario. In the back corner is cheery-looking pig wearing farmer’s overalls. He is grinning at the kids on the Bobbsey Twins box, who wear similar attire. On the left, in the middle ground, is another vintage bank consisting of a smiling cow inside a glass globe. The globe’s base is a wood disk on which is inscribed “Moo-la”.

In the foreground, appearing to gaze up at the viewer with an ingratiating expression, is a second pig bank that is less anthropomorphized than the first. Rising from its head is a clear Plexiglas thought bubble that reads “More Please.” The pig stands in front of the open gate of the white fence that surrounds the scene, and it appears he might escape. It is standing on a large maple leaf punched out of money, bearing an image of Donald Trump’s face (that has morphed from George Washington’s). This leaf is attached to a string of leaves (all punched out of dollar bills) that winds through the fence and leads back to the Bobbsey Twins game, reinforcing the playful nature of the piece.

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