(Above, top: 2020 Biological Sculptures at Biological Camp in Ashland, Tennessee, Monica Murray, in 2020 More Biological Sculptures at Creature Camp in Ashland City, Tennessee, Photography, Photo Credit Monica Murray, “Pink Polycephalupagus”
Hunter has been working at Bonnaroo, the annual music festival in Tennessee since 2018. “This initiated a lot of experiments to make the sculpture moveable, but still heavy enough that it wasn’t blown away or moved away by the party guys,” he said. In 2023, he turned a campsite barn into a big pink, a face with a horned creature’s big eyes. Guests enter through their mouths.
Hunter laughed, “It’s a really cool way to share art. It’s not pretentious in any way. It’s outside. People are opening up and expanding their minds and things.”
Hunter, who installed a sad truck in 2022, worked as a guest artist at Franconia Sculpture Park in Minnesota, uses Scholar Humor to talk about letting go of sadness. A pink pickup truck made of pulp, foam and paint, is high overlaid with green mounds covered with sad faces. Nearby, a grinning purple creature is caught, and a blue woman is ready to remove the dump.
“I think it’s related to a lot of people,” Hunter said. “Some people complain about people’s existence, for example, ‘It’s rough’, but I think that could be a good thing. I think sculpture should make a few people angry.”
A year later, he followed the grief truck with Joyride at the Artville Visual Arts Festival in Nashville. A Dodge pickup truck by Joyride is painted with white dots with carved humorous faces and a bumper bed, and a bunch of smiles on the truck bed. Cars are also practical. Hunter brought it to Bonnaroo’s Pride Parade in 2024, and since the carved pieces are movable, he can also drive outside of art activities.
However, the most interactive thing in Hunter’s installation is the camp on his property. Hunter renovated a 1960s Shasta camper, built and painted an outhouse and outdoor shower, and then filled the space with biological sculptures. Menagerie includes some leftovers from Bonnaroo, as well as leftovers from specific locations. He would rearrange the sculptures when necessary and add new works to those on display when they are sold.
“It’s not pretentious in any way. It’s outside. People are opening up, expanding their thoughts and things… and opening up somehow, and they’re not in a white room or In a museum or at home. ”
