U.S.A. Flag 1960

Claes Oldenburg made this U.S.A. Flag from unfired clay, cloth, and paint. The colours are there, but they’re kind of wrestled into place. It feels like he’s pushing the material around, not just painting. The way the paint globs up and the fabric droops – it’s like a flag in a dream, maybe one you had after eating too much pizza. Look how the stripes are almost topographical, like little canyons of red and white. The blue part, where the stars should be, is this chaotic mess of blue that barely holds itself together. You can almost feel the give of the clay, the way it might squish if you poked it. Oldenburg really understood how to make something iconic feel totally handmade and human. It’s like he’s saying, “Yeah, this is America, but it’s also just stuff.” Think of Jasper Johns, but swap cool detachment for a kind of goofy affection. Ultimately, art is not about answers, it’s about keeping the questions alive.