William. Wegman. Weimaraner. Watch. Wag. Word.

March 24, 2008 2:40 PM

Dressing a dog up as a person is I think not a very good thing. But when I do it, it's fine. William Wegman's Early Videos. Short Films. Trio/Metropolis/Guitar. Clips from his feature, The Hardly Boys.

David Hart's David Hockney meets William Wegman
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur (19 comments total)

My mom took me to see him around 1982 I think, in DC. The Corcoran perhaps? Anyway, it was analagous to picking up Vonnegut for the first time. This guy was so coarse, so absurd, that it completely revised my notion of what art could become. He's become such a commodity now that I suspect few people know much about his earlier stuff.

Thanks for the post.
posted by docpops at 2:42 PM on March 24, 2008

The last piece in the Early Videos link was one of the more disturbing films I watched in ol' Experimental Film and Video 136A in college. Kenneth Anger and Andy Warhol should be upset with me.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 2:42 PM on March 24, 2008

those are some fantastic photographs.
thanks.
posted by krautland at 2:47 PM on March 24, 2008

AV - those were in the installment I saw at the Corcoran. Plus some really lovely non-weimeraner photos. And the belly-speaking. Oh. Boy.
posted by docpops at 2:50 PM on March 24, 2008

Also, it seems like somewhere there should be an excerpt from how he started using Man Ray in his work, as he (the dog) just whined inconsolably whenever Wegman was at work, which led him to start including the dogs.
posted by docpops at 2:53 PM on March 24, 2008

You made my boy Henry squeal with pleasure!
Can you come over to my house and play?
posted by Dizzy at 2:57 PM on March 24, 2008

No; I mean it.
I'm outta Ketel.
posted by Dizzy at 3:00 PM on March 24, 2008

A friend of mine in high school thought Wegman's dog stuff was just about the greatest thing ever. I remember her telling me about it and me not really believing that this stuff was as straightfaced as she said it was; and then she brought over a VHS one day after school and we watched it and, yeah. Huh. Dogs in costumes as characters in a narrative. Bizarre but wonderful; wonderful but bizarre.
posted by cortex at 3:10 PM on March 24, 2008

I guess mediocre minds really do think alke AV;) I was looking up some Hockney pieces last night (his opera set designs - came up pretty empty) This was the best I could find.
posted by vronsky at 3:13 PM on March 24, 2008

They look so much more life-like than Kliban's cats, btw.
posted by Dizzy at 3:13 PM on March 24, 2008

...but somehow less life-like than this cat right here. ;)

I can't tell you if I'm out of Ketel or not because the enormous assortment of good booze I was given last night by a guy who's switching to GHB permanantly won't let me look at it without making me retch this morning. There may have been a middle step there. But there's four bottles of Hendricks, I know.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 3:31 PM on March 24, 2008 [1 favorite]

My favorite Wegman thing ever was a piece he did for Alive from Off Center with Michael Smith called The World of Photography. As far as I know, this excerpt is all that's available online, but I hope to see it again some day.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 3:56 PM on March 24, 2008

"At the Francesco Ferrer Social Center,
where he attended night classes,
Man Ray was allowed
greater freedom."
-
posted by Herodios at 4:06 PM on March 24, 2008

One of Wegman's Polaroid 20x24 images hangs in my living room. It was featured in New Order's Blue Monday music video.
posted by ericb at 4:14 PM on March 24, 2008

Given the presence of David Hockney already in this thread, I thought that Polaroid 20x24 link would go to something entirely different. Something like this.
posted by LionIndex at 5:16 PM on March 24, 2008

LionIndex, you've nailed why I prefer Wegman's videos. His photographs are often so inert. Of course Man Ray was an influence! Moreover, Man Ray's movies are also dope.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 5:24 PM on March 24, 2008

I've always loved the Alphabet Soup video.
posted by not_on_display at 9:55 PM on March 24, 2008

I am, at this very moment, taking a break from working in my office. And all day I have been designing some branded packaging... for dog clothing. Seriously. A Christmas gift set which includes a sweater, a vest, leg warmers, a scrunchie, a bandana, and two toys. Yeah, I have a weird career. Anyhow, they offered me free samples of the clothing when I told them I have a pup... but I told them that my dog would attack me if I said yes. She wouldn't, but I just couldn't say yes. Candy cane striped leg warmers shouldn't be worn by people OR puppies, really. I'll let people pay me to sell them to others though. Because I've got no soul. None whatsoever.

I'm looking forward to checking out Wegman's other stuff. Thanks for the post! :)
posted by miss lynnster at 10:04 PM on March 24, 2008

mmmm Zoe wouldn't wear leg-warmers, but a cape suits any dachsiegirl.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 12:01 AM on March 25, 2008