Out in the suburbs in St. Louis County is Laumeier Sculpture Park, a real delight. Some rich person of that name left her 72 acre estate to the people of metropolitan St. Louis. It has grown into an internationally-recognized open-air museum. The lawns and wooded paths contain an eye-popping variety of large-scale sculpture. Mrs. Laumeier's former home serves as a museum for smaller work.The park's web site does not identify the work in this picture, which is about 4 meters tall. I was leaving the park when I saw it and did not look for an explanatory sign. Interpretation of the art is up to you. There are lots more interesting works and I'll post photos of some in the near future.
TOMORROW: Have you been validated?
7 comments:
I like the whole idea and have thought about doing the same thing myself -- donating my property to the city and let them keep it up for wildlife. So far I have not made up my mind. My kids (all five) would have a fit.
A 13 foot tall statue with a number on it isn't my idea of art when I think of sculpture like David, but the concept is brilliant.
Abraham Lincoln
Brookville Daily Photo
Anytime someone leaves some land to the city and insist it becomes a public is ALL GOOD.
BTW, did you ever get to read Ulyssess?
Opps! I hit the "publish" icon before I was finished.
Yes, the Sunnyside Library is still there although the hours are maddening. They open at 10 AM - 6 PM a couple days a week and 1 PM - 8 PM two days a week. Not the most convenient times for people who work 9 - 6 PM.
The Astoria Library is much better when I used to live there.
wow! amazing and a really surprising finding!
Interesting.
Okay, I am wondering what the purpose of the number could be. Any number of things, I suppose?!
Rambling- here's my take on the work. It is a tired, over-used theme, although it is eye-catching in this setting. The image is a stencil or cut-out of a very conventional business person, briefcase in hand and wearing a suit. The hat looks like a fedora, which all American businessmen wore daily from the 20s through the 50s, a practice that ended only when John Kennedy stopped wearing hats in the early 60s. The character doesn't have a name. He is so anonymous he only has a serial number. The image suggests faceless, anonymous, numbing conformity. This theme has been used over and over, at least since the flower-power days of the mid 60s. It makes me think of Frank Zappa's rants about suburban conformity on his early albums in songs like "Plastic People" and "American Drinks and Goes Home." I give it a C-. That's my two cents worth.
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