Forever For Sale
Is a conceptual project which developed out of my frustration with an art dealer who chose not to show my work at the Palm Springs Art Fair. I understood his decision, but wasn't going to recede quietly. I made a decision to walk into the main gallery of the Art Fair on opening night, set up my newly created piece, and refuse to leave. The piece consisted of my painting mounted on a real estate stand, complete with the ForSale sign.
The following day I created the character of AGENT 00oh, the premier reel state agent of the Hi & Lo Desert. The art piece, entitled FOREVER FORSALE, was set in front of the places I wanted to offer up to sell. At each location, I documented the piece at the location, wrote a small sales pitch, including a price and the possibility for a trade. Later, they were posted on social media.
As the project developed, AGENT 000h took the name, Slim Salabim. With a business card and a fictitious office in a trailer, the agent was ready for business. Here is an example of such a post...
Farming is a tough business... just look at these plants. Now, imagine harvesting them. It will take a serious buyer with a green thumb to make a go of this deal. Bring a big, green spray can because these spindly white bean stalks need color. The farm is 2100 acres and comes with a golf cart to ride around in, to check on the harvest from the ground up.
PRICE: $50,000 and acre and a million a plant
TRADE: a real farm
The Listings Of The Hi & Lo Desert
Presented By Slim Salabim…. Agent 00oh
Everything is forsale, from the houses to the businesses, even the wind and solar farms. The views are forsale. This is Capitalism at its best, and I am here to make the deals. If you've got money, then see me. Now, when that money is not available, goods and services are. You've got something I want, so let's make a trade.
From my hideout in Morongo Valley, sitting in my Airstream trailer, I will take the calls. It’s an unformal affair, you can just call me Slim. When the other agents of the area see me coming, they better step aside. Agent 00oh can pave a way for your advancement up the reel state ladder. With connections in every branch of government and finance, I will group the right factions and fractions to get you into the property of your choice. There will be not stones unturned.
Little Tahiti
I wanted a place to sit and watch the sunset. While driving to the studio one day, I found a car seat on the side of the road. “It looks comfortable, maybe I’ll take it home,” I said to myself. I had no idea what I was about to get myself into.
After six months, I had built a hut where the seat would reside. Sitting there, I am mesmerized by the view. When I’m relaxing, and letting my mind wander, it goes places. Sometimes far away. The hut is a perfect place to daydream or meditate, contemplate and fantasize... a place to exercise the imagination. Years ago, when I visited Tahiti, I was struck by the beauty of the Society Islands. When I sit in my hut, I want my mind to go to that memory. My mind can see the tropical foliage, my body can feel a warm breeze, and I can swim in the blue waters. There is a picture- postcard on the wall in the hut, it’s the Island of Moorea in Tahiti.
Sand Paintings
KEY WEST, FLORIDA 1975
