Process

Of Misconception (The Chiquita Kahoona)

1982
Assemblage with high voltage electric arc
41 x 21 x 19 inches
High voltage spark jumps between banana and staff
Private collection. For sale through stevebrudniak.com:

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This was the first found object work I ever produced, and it included elements—electrical, scientific—that I continued to employ and refine in the years to follow. I had only just begun to work with clay after getting my hands on an old neon sign transformer and experimenting with the high voltage sparks that it produced. But I have yet to really feel the same sense of rapture that I felt the day that I discovered I could make a long, beautiful electric arc between two halves of a fresh banana that I had sliced and connected to the electrode wires. At that moment, I vowed to myself to make an art piece with a giant banana and a 15000-volt neon sign transformer.

BRUDNIAK

In Of Misconception (The Chiquita Kahoona), Brudniak reveals a fascination with energy, both physical and spiritual. Through an elaborate, electrified and absurd assemblage—including a found metal angel, a staff and a large wooden banana—he evokes the moment of creation.

KATHRYN DAVIDSON – The Razors Edge of Now: Steve Brudniak