by Chris Klimek
Bob Rauschenberg died three years ago,but he was still was around in 2001 when Charles L. Mee first saw his tribute to the pioneering collagist performed. Though Rauschenberg painted, made prints, and once deliberately erased an entire drawing by Willem de Kooning, his found-object “combines” are probably the works for which he’s best remembered. In the 1950s and early ’60s, he’d walk around on trash pickup day, helping himself to whatever bits of discarded Americana called out to him. These he cobbled together into perceptive, funny totems of American contradiction and abundance. He always denied these pieces carried any hidden meaning, but it’s unlikely he meant them as a critique. Discussing his combines in 2005, he spoke of “the generosity of finding surprises,” which is actually a pretty perfect summation of Forum Theatre’s wide-eyed new production of Mee’s play. Generosity and surprise abound, but director Derek Goldman has tapped deep wells of melancholy and insight, too....
