Artist Lecture: Remembering TB-9: Steve Kaltenbach, Peter VandenBerge, and Jerry Walberg in Coversation

On Thursday March 6^th, I had the pleasure of attending the lecture, Remembering TB-9, a conversation between the artists, Steve Kaltenbach, Peter VandenBerge, and Jerry Walburg. The lecture began with an insightful introduction by Professor Elain O’Brien about the artists who would be speaking.

Photo by Shannon Veach

 

TB-9 stands for Temporary building 9 and it was an art and sculpture building at the University of California in Davis. Richard L. Nelson was the one responsible for founding the art department at UC Davis and hired faculty such as Manuel Neri, Wayne Thiebaud, William T. Wiley and of course Robert Arneson. Arneson, commonly referred to by the artists as Bob, began teaching at UC Davis in 1962. He and several other artists began to abandon the traditional manufacture of functional items in favor of using everyday objects to make confrontational statements. This new movement was called Funk Art and was a Neo-dada and pop-art style and Arneson was the father of the Ceramic funk movement.

Robert Arneson pictured in front of TB-9

 

I first heard about TB-9 and Robert Arneson a few semesters ago when I attended a lecture at Sac State about the Candy Store, an art gallery owned by Adeliza McHugh. This gallery housed many artworks that were produced through the funk art movement including the works of Robert Arneson, Wayne Thiebaud, and William Wiley, all who were apart of TB-9. Shortly after this lecture, I visited the Crocker Art Museum and saw Robert Arneson’s self-portrait, Overcooked, which portrays him as a chef, on top of some of his famous bricks and in the backside of the chef there is a kiln. I love this self-portrait and I loved it even more because I knew about the Artists as a person. So naturally, when I heard about the lecture, Remembering TB-9, I didn’t want to miss it!

Robert Arneson, Overcooked, 1973. Terracotta

 

The artists in the lecture, Steve, Peter, and Jerry, as they were referred to during the discussion, were all students of Robert Arneson, and they had a conversation with us the audience, and themselves, all discussing and remembering TB-9. Peter, was the first to arrive at TB-9 and it was after meeting Arneson at a fair, that he was invited to work at UC Davis, so when he finished his master at Sac State, he headed over to TB-9. Steve arrived a year later and was Arneson’s first student. They all loved the environment of TB-9 and Jerry mentioned that in his first semester there he took a casting class and loved that the space was always available for them to do whatever they wanted and with the pressure and support of their peers, they were always encouraged to work.

Peter VandenBerge, Steve Kaltenbach, and Jerry Walburg

                Arneson would make the artists build something and then break it, just so they wouldn’t get too attached to their work and would be working for the sake of learning. He also encouraged the artists to explore different materials and to stand behind their work and defend it.

 

                Jerry applied to TB-9 with clay work for his graduate school and worked in clay entirely, until he began working with geometric shapes, in which he was then encouraged to try working in metal. He worked in metal for quite some time and then was encouraged to go back to what he knew, which was clay.

                Steve also worked with geometric shapes and moved from clay into other mediums, in which he had to defend his wok, and that was perfectly fine as long as he could negate it.

                Peter recalled Arneson telling him and other students to try something different and if they negated it, he would joke about smashing their work, but the students would joke back about smashing his work, and he would just laugh. It was the perfect environment for you to be challenged, but it also allowed for humor.

                Jerry was encouraged by TB-9, to take over ASL at Sac State and he did so in 1968. If it weren’t for him ASL might still be a Forestry and Fish and Game building or an empty storage space.

                When talking with the artists, all three of them believed the most important thing they took from TB-9 was the obsession with the work. They feel that obsession and communication with the work is lacking in today’s art. As an art major, I feel I should have this obsession and motivation with my own work, but I am sometimes lacking in that area. When I asked how someone might find motivation in their work, it was suggested that trying new things and experimenting with new materials and supports can sometimes help. I am hoping that as I find more free time after I am through moving into a new house and planning a wedding that I can find the time and the motivation to try new things and find the obsession with my work that I really need to have. These artists are truly an inspiration and I hope to aspire to find that same motivation.