Ron Travelletti at his opening night party at Magnet. Photo by Rink

“Ready-Mades” by Ron Travelletti is the latest art being displayed throughout December at Magnet. The artist spoke to Bay Times at his reception at Magnet on Dec. 8. He said that reusing everyday objects and raising them to the dignity of works of art is his goal. The term “ready-mades” was first used by Marcel Duchamp to describe art he made from manufactured objects.

Growing up in Torrance, California in the ‘50s and ‘60s, Travelletti was heavily influenced by the industry all around him and the pop culture that was and is so pervasive in the Los Angeles area. “My work is influenced by everything that is happening around me,” he said. “I am touched by the romance of the past, the excitement and depression of the present, and the anticipation of what is to come.”

He calls himself a current events junkie. “I sit and watch the news – all day, every day. I watch Keith Oberman, CNN, and I even watch Fox to see what they are up to.” He elaborated, “Of course, the big story is Iraq and the war and Bush, who I heard today has popularity down to 27 percent.” He said, “So many Americans have a real sort of limited funnel view of what’s going on in the world. 9/11 was an event but there were so many more that have happened or are happening around the world.” For years he was an abstract painter. “The assemblage is something I’ve gotten into in the last couple years,” he said. “It’s wonderful because I make dioramas of current events. It’s more representational for me.”  

From left to right the pieces are mounted on a wall. “SWAB” stands for Special Weapons Aids Buggies coming to the rescue. He used Ken dolls on it. “I have a fascination with miniature things. When I was a kid, my younger sisters had Barbie Dolls. I would always get Lego or Erector Sets,” he lamented. “I always felt so cheated, because the Barbies had all these accessories. You can do so many things: you could set them up in real life situations. It seemed like it was a more viable form for expressing yourself as a kid.” He said he used to offer advice to the girls playing with their dolls. “That bag is all wrong with that dress,” he counseled. “My mother would freak out about it. She actually ended up taking me to our family doctor because I was playing with the Barbies.” He said from an early age, he had a fascination with miniature cars and with toys. “I grew up in a family with a lot of problems. At an early age, my brother who was a year older than me died. He accidentally hung himself. It threw my family into a real tailspin.” He said that was when he learned to really appreciate toys. “That’s what I got lost in. You’ll see a lot of toys in my work – toy cars, matchbox cars, tootsie toys, G.I. Joe stuff, Ken doll stuff. It’s all from my childhood and it played a big part in keeping me sane. It was my art at the time.” Travelletti said “SWAB” started off as a piece he first named “Racing Toward the Fast Lane.”

He explained, “It was gonna be a gay guy in a coffin racing toward death – he has AIDS, he does drugs.” But it evolved into something different. “I often start a piece and then it goes off in its own direction,” he said.

“Blood for Oil” has a meat grinder crammed with plastic soldiers being processed through a long tube and refined into oil for the Bushwhacked Oil Company. “It’s very symbolic obviously,” he said. “That’s what I like about art from found objects - you can change the meaning of a given item.” He pointed out a pipe fitting that he turned into an oil tank. He waxed activist, saying, “I like to remind people about why I feel we are at war in Iraq. People get so schmoozed by the media that they forget a large part of this war is about oil.” Look for a little portrait of George Bush in the window.

“Tina vs. Tina” is a statement against crystal. He got a picture of a heavily addicted woman from the Internet on a site about crystal meth addicts. Five pictures of Tina got progressively worse as her addiction worsened. This was the last picture of the five. “In the first picture, she was absolutely ravaging and beautiful. I am a recovering meth addict myself, two years clean and sober,” he said. “I know that I looked not far from the fifth picture. Haggard and sunken in and very unhappy.” He said he wanted to make a statement about his drug addiction and recovery. Next to the photo is a used syringe.  

“Three Brothers” is a piece with his two brothers and him in it. In the middle of a lot of color and whimsy is his brother Ricky, who passed away. “He was a year older than me. This is my brother Mike who I am very close with today. He was just here for two weeks visiting me. So this is homage to my brothers.”

He explained “Gay Sha.” He said he had exhibited the collage with another title on it. “This little gay Asian guy came up to me. He was just really flamboyant,” said Travelletti. He said the fellow told him, “They used to call me geisha but they would call me gay sha.” The “sha” was spoken in San Fernando Valley girl speak rhyming with “ya.” “I just thought that was so funny, so I renamed the piece,” he said. “I see these geisha girl figures as masculine looking even though they are doing very feminine movements. I see them as drag queens. Almost transgendered.”

“Emergency Number 25” is based on the current state of the nation and of the world. “I think there is a great urgency to what’s going on,” he said. “Hence, the commotion here with the sound, the light, and all of the ambulances lined up for miles picking up dead or injured bodies.” There is a CB radio that doesn’t really work but makes a stirring visual. The buildings are constructed with photos of Bush, Rumsfeld, and Cheney. “You can’t see the snarl on his lip, but it’s Cheney,” he said. There is an Iran leader. In another building an atom bomb is exploding.

There are photos of a hostage and of a tank being blown up. “You have to worry about the current situation in the world today, especially in the Middle East,” he cogitated. “Is someone going to end up detonating a nuclear bomb? It seems like such an obvious scenario.” He stressed that the piece isn’t just politics and pointed out a syringe lying in the street and a picture of African AIDS babies. The noise is a continual loop of Bush’s speeches. The light flashes annoyingly.

Travelletti told me he teaches art at what used to be called Continuum. A year ago, they asked him to revise their art program. “To your readers I would say don’t abandon your love of art. It’s easy to forget to go to a museum or a gallery or pick up an art magazine or do something to do with something about the arts, be it a play or whatever. “I just encourage everyone to actively seek these things out, because that supports the art and it’s also a great escape. It’s great therapy.  It’s very healing. I see the healing every day.” He said they do a different workshop every two weeks, where he teaches watercolor, pottery, art from found objects, bead making, and rubberstamping. “Some of these people who have issues with substance abuse, homelessness, and AIDS process whatever they are going through in a non-clinical way, in a way that is very intimate and personal. He underscored, “There is no one there telling them what to do. It’s all about them processing things for themselves.” Travelletti concluded, “It seems to me that people with a lot of issues can create more beautiful art than people who don’t. It goes closer to the bone, somehow.”