101 Useless Decoys by Oli Watt

OLI WATT

101 USELESS DECOYS

Cover image: Installation view, Carrie Secrist Gallery, 2021

OLI WATT 101 USELESS DECOYS On view in the exhibition

Was/ Is/ Ought September 18 - November 13, 2021

All images courtesy the artists and Carrie Secrist Gallery.

Installation images courtesy Nathan Keay.

© 2021, Carrie Secrist Gallery

“The idea of repeating, for me, is a form of masturbation.

-Marcel Duchamp, 196

Starting in early 2020, as the pandemic interrupted a sabbatical-related artist residency an travel plans, I realized I had to make a new plan. I hunkered down in my studio and bega working on a series of 101 Useless Decoys, inspired by Roger Brown’s collection of unusua traditional duck decoys. I set about collecting local wood from downed trees and readil available materials (mostly found but occasionally purchased) in order to create a family of non functional water fowl decoys Working with ideas of attraction (a decoy’s function) and distraction (creating useless object during a pandemic lockdown), I allowed the materials to dictate the forms and processes used Some decoys involved long, laborious manipulation of materials, such as wood carving o repetitive drilling, nailing and gluing. Other decoys were nished in only a few minutes. Som were highly planned while others were improvised. Ranging from elegant to abject, eac completed decoy presented ideas and challenges leading to the making of the next few. Th project has become an exercise in understanding, utilizing, and undermining repetition as process and as a tool

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“This is the three R’ The Three R’ Repetition, Repetition, Repetition -Mark E. Smith of the Fall, 1977

Wrap, 2020

Yarn, foam

18 x 9 x 11 inches

Schnitzel, 2021

Maple, tenderizer

13 x 6 x15

Violin, 2020

Violin, Balsa, cherry

11 x 6.5 x 7 inches

Trix, 2020

Pine, kids’ blocks, ash

8 x 6.5 x 9 inches

Twist, 2020

Pine, found wood

10 x 5 x 10 inches

Travis, 2020

Pine, ash

13 x 8.5 x 9 inches

Tanker, 2020

Pine, found plastic, pewter

15.5 x 14 x 19 inches

Stacks, 2020

Found wood, pine

13 x 4 x 9 inches

Roger, 2020

Pine, walnut, found wood

9 x 7 x 7 inches

Roger Too, 2020

Walnut, wood epoxy

11 x 8 x 6 inches

Old Style, 2021

Pine, acrylic paint, gold leaf,

ash, aluminum, copper nails

17 x 6 x 8.5 inches

Shaggy, 2020

Pine, walnut shavings,

foam

16 x 6 x 8 inches

Rockhead, 2020

Found rock, maple

17 x 5.5 x 9 inches

Rock Bottom, 2020

Found decoy head,

found rock

6 x 3.5 x 6 inches

Ringo, 2020

Cherry, maple, found wood

9 x 6.5 x 9 inches

Rack, 2020

Balsa wood, epoxy resin,

pine, concrete

12 x 8 x 6 inches

Printhead, 2020

Screenprint on

birch plywood, maple

10 x 6 x 8.5 inches

Poseur, 2020

Found wood, found

foam duck head

6 x 5 x 20.5 inches

Periscope, 2020

Walnut, bass, pine,

found decoy

16 x 7 x 25 inches

Frame (Trojan Duck), 2021

Maple, oak

19 x 9 x 10 inches

Gull, 2021

Bass, found wood

18.5 x 7 x 12 inches

Inkfoot, 2021

Walnut, found wood

8 x 5.5 x 13 inches

Let Go, 2021

Lego bricks

17 x 7.5 x 9 inches

Loon, 2021

Remote control, acrylic

paint, pine

8 x 3 x 4 inches

Limbo, 2020

Found wood, pine

22 x 16 x 18 inches

Molecules, 2021

Found decoy, plastic, wood

7 x 7 x 5 inches

ffl

Mu e, 2020

Pine, found metal

15 x 5.5 x 8 inches

Burner, 2021

Pine, found wood

14 x 4 x 5 inches

Dunk, 2020

Ash, dogwood

8.5 x 8.5 x 12 inches

Drift, 2020

Pine, oak, found wood

18 x 7 x 8 inches

Duck Walk, 2021

Printed produce box, found

wood, pewter

11 x 6 x 20 inches

Double Header, 2020

Walnut, pine, found

wood, wood epoxy

22 x 12 x 14 inches

Coatless, 2020

Plastic coat hangers,

hot glue

12 x 8 x 9 inches

Diamond Foot, 2020

Walnut, found wood

7 x 5 x 15 inches

Careen, 2021

Found wood, found

duck sculpture

7 x 4 x 7 inches

Camo, 2021

Pine, duct tape

12 x 6 x 9 inches

Bags, 2021

Paper bags, twine

15 x 8 x 12 inches

Bulb, 2021

Ash, walnut, light bulb

13.5 x 5 x 11.5 inches

Bottleneck, 2021

Cherry, found glass

bottle, found wood

7 x 3 x 25 inches

Block, 2020

Balsa, concrete

14 x 4 x 8.5 inches

Totally Wired, 2021

Aluminum wire, cotton fabric, plaster

15 x 8 x 10 inches

Sticky, 2021

Aluminum mesh, molding paste

15 x 8 x 10 inches

New Old Growth, 2021

Found wood, vegetation

15.5 x 6 x 10.5 inches

Nest, 2021

Ash wood, wasp nest, carved pine

12.5 x 9 x 8 inches

Marcel, 2020

Plaster, plumbing, light clamp and carved cherry wood

16.5 x 6.5 x 23 inches

Colander, 2021

Carved pin, colander

14 x 9 x 8.5 inches

Chip, 2021

Various found wood

20 x 10 x 9 inches

Roots, 2021

Carved pine, tree root system

25.5 x 11 x 13 inches

Canvas, 2021

Wood, canvas, staples

18 x 6 x 9.5 inches

All Star, 2021

Basswood, sneaker

12 x 5 x 7 inches

To view the exhibition Was/ Is/ Ought, please visit us at

900 West Washington, Chicago, IL 60607

312.491.0917

www.secristgallery.com

For more information, please contact Britton Bertran at 312.491.0917

All work copyright the artist and Carrie Secrist Gallery, ©2021. Any use, disclosure, copying or distribution of this document without prior written permission from the owner is strictly prohibited.

Pricing and availability of works of art listed in this document is subject to change without prior notice.