ART FOR ANYONE: The Installations of Terry Holloway and Graeme Haub
by EAM Staff

Terry Holloway and Graeme Haub met in a video store in Eugene. It was obvious within seconds of meeting them that these guys are on a very enjoyable artistic journey together. Holloway is from Oklahoma and Haub is from Texas. "We both are very proud of our heritage, the MidWest, the places that aren't the coasts, I mean art is very hard to get there. I feel like we both have a mindset that is different than the northwesterners...my biggest thing was, 'Oh I gotta get closer to the coast', you know, and as soon as I got here I started realizing how raw and great the stuff from Oklahoma was because everyone down there is trying so hard to get out. Everyone is pushing the limits and around here everyone is in this fluffy medium. And that's where we come in. We're like, why isn't there any messes, why isn't anyone exploding their shit everywhere? "

Holloway and Haub do improv video projections around Eugene, and also do improv art installations throughout downtown. Holloway created a tree out of concrete, electrical conduit, LED lights, tail light bulbs to a Honda Civic, a Malibu outdoor lighting timer and batteries. At the end of each branch he attached little love letters as the leaves. One night he wheeled it into the middle of downtown and left it just so see peoples reactions to it. "I literally pushed it down the street all lit up", he said.

Holloway has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film Making from the University of Oklahoma. In each of his works he strives to tell a story which is a large part of why he got into film making in the first place. Since coming to Oregon about eight years ago, he has been very busy showing all over Eugene. After meeting Haub, Holloway mentioned that he needed help with one of his installations and Haub was very eager to participate. Haub grew up in Texas, working a lot of jobs in the trades and learned valuable skills. "I've always had a yearning to make people smile or to project a sick or twisted idea", Haub said. After a while Holloway decided it just made sense to bring Haub on as a design partner.

Holloway said that many times he will look at a piece as they are creating or installing it and he'll be stuck, but Haub's untrained eye will see it differently and it helps him to make better decisions. Growing up in a conservative home Holloway's parents always felt like they didn't know how to view art in a museum setting. So it has been his mission to not only create works that make people pause but that anyone can look at and say "Oh understand what that is".  

Recently the duo came to Portland to our Emerge Underground show we host each month to show their interactive installation called The Great Kitchen Disaster. The work is about American consumerism, and nothing is more symbolic than the hot dog on a bun loaded down with all sorts of fixings and condiments. All the additions to the hot dog distract the consumer from the idea that is contains some of the most unhealthy parts of animals within its synthetic casing. The piece consists of over-sized ketchup, mustard, mayo, and relish containers with the contents both shooting out and spilled everywhere. At one point during the show Holloway and Haub begin serving naked hotdogs to the patrons of the show on silver platters. Both serving trays had little cards that read, Sorry no condiments, we had an accident in the kitchen. The performance culminates with Haub tripping in the debris field of condiments and Holloway throwing his tray down and storming off. The best part of the piece for both artists is the awkward silence for about 30 seconds where people are unsure how to respond followed by applause.

We are very excited to have more interaction with both Holloway and Haub at our Emerge Underground show as well as to follow what they have in store in Eugene.
If you would like more information about them please visit their website.