Word: hampton
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...General Assembly. It's difficult to describe this work; some call it "primitive art," others just attribute it to sheer madness and leave it at that. The Throne is a series of chairs, tables, little altars and tablets, all elaborately decorated in tin foil. It was created by James Hampton, a black, Washington D.C. janitor who apparently saved all of the tin foil he found on the job to construct his tribute to the second coming of Christ. Hampton built this set-piece in a poorly lit, unheated garage in D.C. He took just about anything he found to design...
There are lots of little things in this exhibit that inspire the viewer's curiousity about Hampton's influences. For instance, he has made several crowns and most have lightbulbs attached on top (covered with tin foil, of course). It seems obvious, and funny, that Hampton was inspired by cartoon depictions of "having an idea" (pop! the light bulb goes on over the head...
Very little is known about Hampton himself; he stuck to himself and died of cancer in 1964. One fact everybody agrees on: it sure did take a lot of cigarette and candy wrappers. The exhibit runs at the MFA through February 13. Tuesday evenings 5 p.m.-9 p.m.) are free at the MFA this month...
...Hampton...
...heated by the sun to around 200° F. is stored in a 2,500-gal. tank. Hot water then circulates through a heat coil over which air is blown by a fan and ducted to every room in the house. At Harry Evans' new home in East Hampton, N.Y., heat from solar panels in the roof is collected in a bin containing 1,000 sealed, plastic bottles of water, which can hold the heat for as long as three sunless days. The system provides between 50% and 75% of Evans' home heating requirements. Alden and Margaret Krider...