Allison S M I T H


	Arts & Skills Service

	SMITHS

	Fancy Work

	Needle Work

	The Donkey, The Jackass, and The Mule

	By the by and by and by

	Hobby Horse

	Notion Nanny

	The Muster 2005

	The Muster 2004

	Armory

	Victory Hall

	Crockery

	Coverlets

	Public Address

	Stilleven, evenStill

	Mom-n-Pop

	B I O

	C V

	C O N T A C T

	S T U D I O

	N E W S



	Hobby Horse is a sculpture that I made and performed in San Antonio, Texas during a residency at Artpace in the fall of 2006. It was originally inspired by a small, hand-carved rocking horse that I found at a county fair in England. I wanted to monumentalize the toy in homage to its anonymous maker, as well as to physically “enter” equestrian statuary, the best-known form of war memorial sculpture. While riding the Hobby Horse in costume, I sang a song set to the tune of the patriotic Civil War song "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," which was in fact based on an antiwar Irish folk ballad. The Civil War version is a call to welcome home the heroic soldier, while the earlier song is a sad lament on the horrors of any war, wherein Johnny returns a broken man. In my own version, I asked when or if soldiers ever can "come home," rocking in place as a way of gesturing toward a contemporary state of cultural impasse.

Allison S M I T H Hobby Horse Wood, paint, horsehair, leather, brass, glass

Hobby Horse
2006
Wood, paint, horsehair, leather, brass, glass
98 in. x 112 in. x 36 in.

Commissioned by Artpace San Antonio, Texas. Collection of the Saatchi Gallery, London. Photo credit Todd Johnson.

Hobby Horse (detail)
2006
Wood, paint, horsehair, leather, brass, glass
98 in. x 112 in. x 36 in.

Commissioned by Artpace San Antonio, Texas. Collection of the Saatchi Gallery, London. Photo credit Todd Johnson.

Hobby Horse (performance)
2006
Please click on image again for more detail.

Commissioned by Artpace San Antonio, Texas. Collection of the Saatchi Gallery, London. Photo credit Kimberly Aubuchon.

Hobby Horse (performance)
2006

Commissioned by Artpace San Antonio, Texas. Collection of the Saatchi Gallery, London. Photo credit Kimberly Aubuchon.

Allison S M I T H Hobby Horse Edition of 10, Lithograph with relief

Hobby Horse (Song Sheet: What Are You
FIghting For?)
2006
Edition of 10, Lithograph with relief
20.5 in. x 17 in.

Edition of 10. Printed by Hare and Hound Press, San Antonio, Texas. Commissioned by Artpace San Antonio, Texas. Collection of the Saatchi Gallery, London. Photo credit Kimberly Aubuchon.

Allison S M I T H Hobby Horse Wool, canvas, linen, cotton, paint, wood, aluminum, leather, brass

Hobby Horse (performance props)
2006
Wool, canvas, linen, cotton, paint, wood, aluminum, leather, brass
Dimensions variable

Commissioned by Artpace San Antonio, Texas. Collection of the Saatchi Gallery, London. Photo credit Todd Johnson.

Hobby Horse (performance props)
2006
Wool, canvas, linen, cotton, paint, wood, aluminum, leather, brass
Please click on image again for more detail.

Commissioned by Artpace San Antonio, Texas. Collection of the Saatchi Gallery, London. Photo credit Todd Johnson.

Hobby Horse (prototype)
2006
Please click on image again for more detail.

Photo credit Kimberly Aubuchon.

Untitled (Holly Hobby)
2006

"Allison Smith: Hobby Horse," Artpace San Antonio, Texas. Photo credit Todd Johnson.

Allison S M I T H Hobby Horse Overshot weaving, wool and linen

Security Blanket (Drums of War)
2006
Overshot weaving, wool and linen

"Allison Smith: Hobby Horse," Artpace San Antonio, Texas. Woven by Leigh Alexander. Commissioned by Artpace San Antonio. Exhibited in "Allison Smith: Hobby Horse," Artpace San Antonio, Texas, and "Public Displays of Affection/Affliction," Tandem Gallery, Birmingham, Alabama. Photo credit Todd Johnson.