Some creative people display their works in galleries, hoping to get noticed. Mike Bennett takes a more direct approach.
For the last several weeks, the 30-year-old Portlander has used humble plywood, paint and other materials to create figures modeled after pop culture icons from “The Simpsons,” “SpongeBob SquarePants,” Pokémon and more.
Bennett then places his “cutouts,” as he calls them, in various spots around Portland, out in the open. If a passerby should stumble across one of Bennett’s creations, the artist includes information on the back, and invites people to write down what he calls “a happy thought.”
“It’s a huge thank-you to Portland,” Bennett says in a phone conversation. Instead of snarky sentiments or vandalism, Bennett says, he’s received good feedback.
“It’s such a warming, happy thing,” Bennett says.
“I’ll usually drop them off before work, and I pick them up after sunset,” Bennett says. “I don’t want to break the rules, and I don’t want to trespass. I don’t want people to get sick of looking at them.”
Mike Bennett's take on the "Homer Simpson in a hedge" gif/meme.
Bennett has left tips on Reddit (his user name is Lemmy_Koopa) or his Instagram account to give Portlanders an idea of where he’s placed his work.
“Everyone likes a scavenger hunt,” he says. “People have been so great. They’ve tagged me in photos. I made a little yellow dog with a top hat, and someone sent me a message on Instagram that while they were walking in Southeast Portland, they saw the dog. He’s just sitting in someone’s window.”
Though Bennett hasn’t been making his plywood creations for very long, he’s already received a good deal of recognition, with stories in local and national media, including a feature on the BBC website.
“I just went to New York City with Travel Portland,” Bennett says. “They invited me to be an ‘ambassador’ for the city.” While in Manhattan, Bennett said, he spoke with media there about “what makes Portland so great.”
Mike Bennett's figure of the late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, placed in an appropriate Portland spot. (Photo: Mike Bennett)
Bennett talked about his positive experiences in placing his figures, and being able to work out of the garage at the house he and his girlfriend share in Northeast Portland.
“It’s been quite the whirlwind,” says Bennett.
Mike Bennett's cutout inspired by the Totoro figure. (Photo: Mike Bennett)
The Massachusetts native spent most of his younger days in central Pennsylvania, and studied art education, computer design, illustration and animation at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, in 2012.
After graduating, Bennett worked at an art gallery, and bartended, until a college friend told Bennett that there was a room in his apartment in Portland. “I think you’d love it,” Bennett recalls his friend saying. “Why don’t you come out, and try it for a month?”
Mike Bennett's "Ned Flanders" creation, placed, naturally, on Northeast Flanders Street. (Photo: Mike Bennett)
Bennett had never been to Oregon, let alone Portland. But as he says, “You don’t want to always ask yourself, what if I went to Portland?” For people with artistic interests, Bennett says, Portland had a mystique, based on part on what he’d seen in the media about the Rose City.
“And then, of course, you have ‘Portlandia,’ as well,” Bennett says, adding that the satirical series painted “an interesting picture” of the city.
So, Bennett headed to Portland.
Mike Bennett's cutout is a better-looking version of a "SpongeBob SquarePants" character. (Photo: Mike Bennett)
“I gave myself a short few weeks to kind of treat it like a vacation,” Bennett recalls. He went to the Columbia Gorge to hike, explored the city, visited the coast, and decided he wanted to stay.
“I got hired by Salt & Straw, which was the best first job I could have gotten,” Bennett says. Working at the location on Southeast Division Street gave him a chance to meet and talk with a lot of people, “and I just loved it.”
After that, Bennett did some preschool teaching, studied coding, and now works as an assistant to a team of real estate agents.
Mike Bennett temporarily placed a cutout creation based on the "Sloth" character from "The Goonies" in Astoria. (Photo: Mike Bennett)
He’s not making money from his plywood cartoon creations, Bennett says, and he covers the costs himself. Bennett says he hasn’t run afoul of any copyright issues with the works, because he doesn’t sell the ones featuring familiar characters.
“When it comes to SpongeBob, or Pikachu, or the Simpsons, those aren’t things that I feel comfortable selling,” says Bennett, since the art was originated by others. “If anyone wants to own one of these, they can donate to a charity, and keep the figure.”
In the future, Bennett says, he’d like to create more original art, which he would sell. He’s interested, for example, in designing some figures inspired that Northwest institution, Bigfoot.
“And I’m looking for opportunities to work with people, and collaborate," he says. "I really like making friends, and networking.”
-- Kristi Turnquist
kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist
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