For most students, the Tiger Den equals food. How about, the Tiger Den equals marriage?
It's true, but don't start avoiding the cafeteria.
Nowhere else will you see images of Sid Vicious and Nancy floating over the heads of Al and Tipper, or Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie cutting wedding cake while the "Killer" (Jerry Lee Lewis) woos his young cousin.
"The Wedding Chapel," which is actually a parody of marriage, is an interactive piece of folk art designed by University of Memphis student Tommy Foster that stands quietly next to the north entrance to the Tiger Den. Well, most of the time it stands there quietly. If you put a quarter in it, it lights up, plays music and the good times roll.
Foster, 47, is a self-taught folk artist who has recently returned to college to finish up an undergraduate degree in art and education.
"I've always made little cigar-box dioramas, and would just pick someone like Johnny Cash and make a little shrine," Foster explained.
Over the years, Foster's ideas have outgrown cigar boxes. His art materials consist of found objects, "thrifting" finds and yard sale treasures. "At first I started using old record player motors, then I started using disco ball motors," said Foster.
A prime example of his automotive folk genius is the famous "The First Church of the Elvis Impersonator," which stood in the Java Cabana Coffee Shop window for years.
Anyone strolling through the midtown neighborhood of Cooper-Young could pass the store-front window (either during or after business hours), put a quarter in the display, stand back and watch the records spin, the disco balls light up and be serenaded by the King himself.
Foster, who grew up in Whitehaven (the home of Graceland), actually met Elvis in 1962 when the artist was nine years old. "Music was a big part of my childhood, more than art, and it has been my immaturity and love for music that have most influenced my art."
However, since the rejuvenation of his college career in 1998, he is more aware of the classical and conceptual ideas behind conventional art, and said he senses his work changing.
"I'm being nudged by academics into more conceptual art," he said. "I think my art is going to evolve to a higher level of quality while still having a little funkiness."
According to the Museum of American Folk Art in New York, "the term 'folk art' is applied to a wide spectrum of artworks -- self-taught artists who have come to their art-making in unconventional and personal ways, outside the canons of fine art academies."
Foster's work, which incorporates sculpture and painting, is uniquely representative of the South's rich musical heritage and how Southern music, such as rockabilly, soul and blues, has touched his soul.
"Even though he's into the kitschy side (of art) because it's fun and expressive, it's really his way of saying that your roots are important," said Mary Burns, University of Memphis graduate student and owner of Java Cabana Coffee Shop.
Foster, who was the original owner of Java Cabana, also does performance art. Dressed in robes as the "the Reverend Tommy," he, along with an entourage consisting of an Elvis impersonator and his girlfriend dressed as Priscilla Presley, performs wedding ceremonies complete with Moon Pie and R.C. Cola communions.
Although he'll travel anywhere to perform the ceremonies, he has an official wedding chapel at the Center for Southern Folklore at 119 South Main. "I've performed over 500 weddings and married couples from 30 different countries," he said.
Foster has always worked closely with the Center for Southern Folklore, which is the new home of "The First Church of the Elvis Impersonators."
He recently finished a commissioned piece of art for the Center, which he describes as a "multi-media kinetic art shrine." It's a folksy bust of Isaac Hayes that is actually a CD listening station.
A headset connected to a CD player rests on the sculpted head of Hayes, offering customers the chance to sample the Center's CDs before buying them.
Foster's folk and performance art have earned him commissioned work from The House of Blues, as well as appearances and interviews on BBC television, 20/20, Current Affair, Veronica TV (a Netherlands TV station) and Good Morning America.
How does this internationally recognized artist feel about having his folk art displayed in a campus cafeteria?
As a folk artist, he considers it validation. "Even here in the academic art world, ("The Wedding Chapel") got honorable mention in the student show ... and I was asked if it could be left on display here.
I like the contrast of (the art) being primitive and being displayed in a 'high art' setting."
High art, folk art, conceptual art, classical art -- "The Wedding Chapel" was placed in the cafeteria for students' enjoyment.
As junior Christina Pauline stood in the cafeteria with wide eyes watching the spinning lights, straining to identify the scratchy tune being played and trying to recognize the infamous couples featured in the display, she said, "I think it's interesting here."
