Artist 4/20: Jim Henson

Again another artist who is unconventional in that his creations only are complete with the assistance of a performer is the legendary Jim Henson. September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990

Known for his creation of the fun-filled muppets, Jim Henson's work spans from the cute and obnoxiously informative Sesame Street to the more darker works seen in films like The Dark Crystal. His influences also permeated into such films as Star Wars when his colleque and student Frank Oz created several creatures including Yoda using the same puppetry techniques. The word "muppet" is derived from the two words of "puppet" and "marionette" which were puppeting styles which Jim Henson had combined. With them, Jim Henson was among the first people to combine interaction between real people and puppets. While one might think this mearly pertains to performance  art the muppets were sculptures in their own right.

The muppets are made from an endless list of materials. Most people associate the muppets with felt, feathers or faux fur.Probably the most famous muppet and indeed the face of the Jim Henson company is Kermit the Frog. Indeed made from felt, Jim Henson also used a random object for Kermits eyes...a ping pong ball split in two. Muppets also varied in an endless assortment of colors and color combinations. Not only were these materials easy to work with but Jim Henson was aware of how children reacted to them. They suggest warmth and softness looking like pillows or talking blankets teaching you the ABCs.

But with programs like The Muppet Show, Jim Henson tried to make his art form appeal to a more adult audience. However, it became clear as he had perfected his talents that he would have to take a more bold approach.

Skekis (The Dark Crystal)

With his two films Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal, Jim Henson explored the potential of his darkside attempting to push the envelopes of people's imaginations. Really being a very large group effort between Jim, artist Brian Fraud and whole bunch of artists the creatures took on a more earthy and realistic appearance. Some were friendly and gentile looking while others were freaky and grotesque but either way one often forgets that what they are looking at isn't a living creature...or is it?

Jim Henson was always very adamant that his creatures were living beings, each having their unique personality. Yet Jim also acknowledge that each muppet colorfully reflected a certain part of himself or whoever manned the character. If art is a reflection of ourselves and an expression of an idea...the muppets certainly apply in a very unique way.  

Like many great artists, Jim Henson's Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal were not well received in their day. But a generation later, a huge fan following began to emerge, largely children who were "scarred" by these films, now all grown up. We may not have been aware of the storyline or the underlining messages. We were just kids fascinated by the metaphorical bright, shiney objects being dangled in front of us. It's truly amazing that out of wire, wood, featurs, hair, paper mache, and god knows what else, that Jim Henson was able to make things so unfamiliar and alien come to life like so few artits have.