ART, EDITORIAL
02.19.2011 I UFO Abductee Experiences Exhibition
Balance Hair Salon in Jersey City featured the work of 68-year-old Hoboken-based artist, David Huggins. The exhibition consisted of paintings based on his personal accounts of alien abductions. Whether or not you choose to believe his story is up to you, though personally I would like to believe him because of my fascination with UFO/alien phenomena. After speaking to Huggins for a few minutes and examining his artwork, I noticed that the content and stories behind the paintings seem to dominate over his artist techniques, so instead of speaking about the art itself you find yourself getting hung up on the typical alien questions.
I am going to accept this dilemma as a positive, and view it as part of his art. If this is an act, then his life since the 80s when he finally decided to speak about his abductions has been one large performance piece. Looking at the paintings themselves knowing they are personal accounts of an abductee gives you a completely different outlook and approach. The exhibition kept making me think about the Close Encounters exhibition I reviewed a few weeks ago at the Arts Guild of New Jersey in Rahway, which also consisted of paintings of aliens and flying saucers, none of which were based on personal abduction stories. It is fascinating to see two separate artists using the same mediums to paint the same exact content, however, both artists’ points of view and relationships to the subject matter (UFOs/aliens) are completely unrelated to each other.
David Huggins answering questions.
Speaking to an “out of the closet” or shall I say “out of the spaceship” abductee was an experience like no other. Never in my life have I met an abductee, just the occasional “I saw a weird light formation in the sky” people. His sincerity about his experiences is almost chilling. I asked him several questions, and left the exhibition wishing I asked even more questions about the alien fashions, alien genders, what they do to the baby specimens, if he has shown the aliens his paintings, etc. However, this is what I was able to muster.
Q: Are all of the paintings based on a single alien abduction, or are these based on a series of abductions?
A: The paintings are based on the hundreds of abductions I have had. My first abduction happened when I was 8 years old and living in Georgia, since then the abductions have been happening frequently over the past 60 years of my life.
Q: Did the aliens follow you from Georgia where you were first abducted when you were eight years old?
A: Yes. I moved to New York when I was 19 so I could study art, and when I moved the abductions continued.
Q: Can you tell me about how you are abducted. Does a stereotypical saucer shoot out a beam that pulls you up into the ship? What are the abduction methods?
A: I am not beamed up. What happens is that an opening will form in the wall, a circular opening, and they come out and take me in. Then the hole closes.
Q: I am looking at this painting and you are standing naked in a room, surrounded by cubes. Can you tell me about what those cubes are?
A: Those are actually incubators, and inside of the incubators were live babies. When I first saw them I asked the alien, “Oh my god, who do these babies belong to?” and the alien said that they were all my babies.
Q: Wow, so it seems that they were abducting you to take your sperm and create human specimens.
A: That is exactly what they are doing.
Q: Now looking at this other painting here, I see the aliens putting a sharp needle like device up your nose, did you know what they were doing to you at the time?
A: I don’t know for sure, but I am pretty sure it’s their way of identifying a person.
Q: Do you feel haunted by these abductions? Is this something that you dread, something you embrace, something you fear, etc?
A: No, I am not haunted by these abductions at all. I don’t see it as anything bad.
Viewers, art gurus, and possible space aliens approached Huggins all night with abduction questions. Aside from the art pieces on the wall, the gallery space was decorated with light up flying saucers, alien heads, and even fog! Most exciting were some the outfits—avid alien fans dressed up in metallic space suits, one suit was even laced with LED lights—oh yes, and the free cocktails being served by the cute bartender.
