James Franco and Brother Tom Exhibit Decorated Sewer Pipes in Arizona

The Ceramics Research Center at Arizona State University Museum of Art is hosting "Pipe Brothers: Tom e James Franco," an exhibition of decorated sewer pipes created by actor James Franco and his brother Tom Franco. The pipes were produced in collaboration with Phoenix's Mission Clay Products, a manufacturer of ceramic pipes, under a program that has invited artists for forty years to transform industrial pipes into art. The factory's director Bryan Vansell oversees the initiative. The pipes are made by a 50-meter-tall machine, each measuring seven and a half meters high. Artists worked on-site, adapting to factory rhythms in a water-saturated environment to prevent the clay from cracking. James Franco created two pipes titled "Harry" and "Jimmy," depicting a cat and James Dean with his Porsche, respectively. Tom Franco involved his Firehouse Art Collective from Berkeley, California. Curator Garth Johnson noted that artists from around the world can sculpt, color, glaze, and work the clay as they wish. After the exhibition, the pipes will travel to other shows before being installed as public art while retaining their original drainage function. The exhibition runs until September 23 at the Ceramics Research Center, 699 S. Mill Ave., Suite 108, Tempe, Arizona.