William Hundley: The Original Prankster

Austin-based artist William Hundley combines all things obscure and rather unrelated into perfect collage-like photographs.

Cheeseburgers and skateboards, cheeseburgers and chihuahuas, cheeseburgers as shoes, practically all things cheeseburger-related are his forte. Aside from the burgers, in 2006 Hundley created an ongoing series, Entoptic Phenomena, in which he captures fabric-draped people in mid-jump. The shapes appear to hover unannounced in the photographs, almost like a Daliesque-sculpture; ephemeral and out of context. Hundley is insistent on letting people know that no digital manipulation has been made, saying ‘they are just photographs’ and that having ‘acrobatic models’ is the key to the success of the imagery.

I love the practical-joke nature of it; if I can make humour and beautiful aesthetics come together, that’s the biggest powerhouse I can imagine (Hundley)

This seems to be the common thread in all of his works, from the quirky names given to his collections, like Little Naked Person Storage, to his Dadaist imagery; sculpture; and installations – the man is an original prankster.