It’s not often you see bamboo in Oklahoma, but bamboo is quickly becoming one of the most widely used naturally replenishing resources we have in this world. So why wouldn’t it be a major part of great art installations. Meet the Starns, a couple of amazing artists that have made a name for themselves with bamboo.
“Doug and Mike Starn were born in New Jersey in 1961. Identical twins, they work collaboratively with photography and continue defying categorization, effectively combining traditionally separate disciplines such as sculpture, photography, painting, video, and installation.”
Working even now the Starns have just finished an exhibition of Big Bambú in Venice, Italy. Here are some images of that work, and a link or two to other works of theirs… Enjoy!
“In addition to their large Red Hook studio, the Starns are currently building Big Bambú at the former Tallix foundry acting as a laboratory studio space in Beacon, New York. Big Bambú is a seminal architectural installation and constantly evolving construction, formed by a network of more than 2,000 fresh-cut bamboo poles lashed together. This colossal artwork bridges the realms of sculpture, architecture and performance.”
“Doug and Mike Starn’s art has been the object of numerous solo and group exhibitions in museums and galleries worldwide including the 1987 Whitney Museum of American Art Biennial, New York; The Victoria & Albert Museum, London; and, the Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal, Leiden, the Netherlands. The Starns have received the following honors: two National Endowment for the Arts Grants in 1987 and 1995; The International Center for Photography’s Infinity Award for Fine Art Photography in 1992; and, artists in residency at NASA in the mid-nineties. The Starns major artworks are represented in public and private collections including: La Bibliotèque Nationale, Paris; La Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Museum of Modern Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; The Jewish Museum, New York; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; and, Yokohama Museum of Art, Japan; amongst many others.”
Finally the last few feet to the finish. An amazing feat, and a wonderful interactive piece of art that for the moments its in existence changes the skyline of Venice.
I don’t know if it’s the architectural quality of the finished product or the interactive ‘community’ nature of how it is constructed that attracts me so much to their work. All I know is that I truly love Big Bambú and would love to see it come to Oklahoma, if even for a weekend. 
For information about the artists, and their work visit them online, and don’t forget to check out the other amazing media they work in, photography for one…
From the Farm 
* Photos courtesy of the Starns.
