WE COULD DO SOME MORE SCULPTURE

 

The series of four busts of St. Louis writers I just finished was unusual. It occurred to me that a survey of local public sculpture might be worthwhile. St. Louis has a lot of it, some very good, some simply dreadful. I'll start looking around. For starters, Erwin Wurm's Big Suit in Citygarden. However, there is an unusual event to shoot Thursday.                     

BUSINESS CASUAL IN TINTYPE

 

Just the thing for a St. Louis man to wear to a late summer social event. But it makes me think of the words of a certain native St. Louis writer: We are the hollow men/ We are the hollow men/ We are the stuffed men/ Leaning together/ Headpiece filled with straw. 

Austrian sculptor Erwin Wurm’s Big Suit, https://citygardenstl.org/art/erwin-wurm/#, asks a lot of questions. I like art that pokes. Many people walk past something like this and think it looks weird/cool/stupid/baffling, then keep on movng. I’d rather stop and wonder about what’s going on.                         

NOTHING TO SEE HERE

Referring to a potential viewer or the object of vision? STL DPB dips into philosophy when encountering Erwin Wurm's Big Suit in Citygarden downtown. So who wears pink suits? We can see that.              

CITY DAILY PHOTO JUNE THEME DAY - PINK

Your city may have a monumental statue of a politician or general, the figure of Liberty or a battling bull and bear. We have Erwin Wurm's Big Suit in Citygarden. I find it ambiguous, subject to many interpretations. Many years ago, though, I had a pink seersucker suit. No idea what got into me.

It's going to be crazed around here this weekend. The baseball Cardinals' arch-rivals, the Chicago Cubs, are in town. That always draws thousands of out of town fans. The third game of the Stanley Cup finals is Saturday night, with our Blues and the Boston Bruins tied at one game each. Is it coincidental about Cubs and Bruins at the same time or is there deeper mystical significance? I think the authorities should just turn Market Street into a river of beer and the rest of us should stay far away.             

Haute Couture

An outfit that would look better in Miami than St. Louis, in sun, not cold fog. And what's with the monumental plinth, something more likely to hold a bronze effigy of a dead general or politician? It's just part of what makes us a little different. In Citygarden, of course.         

Orange and Pink

The Arch 50th anniversary celebration was a bust. There was a stage with rotating entertainment, some better than others. A bit of low-end children's activities and a number of food booths lacking for business with the modest turnout. And that's it. There were fireworks later but after Madeleine's bedtime.

So the family went down the street to Citygarden, which everyone enjoys. The long wall is always lined with pumpkins at this time  of year. Quite a contrast with the pink in Big Suit. Madeleine had some fun with the autumn leaves, more about which tomorrow.

The Long View

When I'm unmotivated and out of ideas Citygarden is always good for a few images. It's four years now since it opened and even has its own iPhone app.

Most of the sculptures challenge the viewer. None are pretty; all require thought. So what's with Erwin Wurm's Big Suit? Headless, ludicrous in pink, standing on a formal pedestal like a hero. Read it as you will but read it closely. Personally, I wonder if it is making fun of all the businessmen and women in the surrounding office towers. Headless, eyeless, pompous, attempting to gaze over downtown with no chance of vision.                      

Hollow Men

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Seems like every couple of years I find a reason to quote the opening lines of St. Louisan T. S. Elliott's masterwork, The Hollow Men. I'll spare you today but only because it will be in a link I'll probably use in tomorrow's post.

This is a close-up of Edwin Wurm's Big Suit in Citygarden. The stocky pink wraith was installed two years after the venue opened. There is a post about it here with the actual color. Perhaps the black and white emphasizes the lask of a core.

All is not gray, though. I spent a couple of hours today shooting the orchid show at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Results will be on display over the next few days.

Big Suit

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Something new has been added. Big Suit, by the Austrian artist Erwin Wurm, is the only additional sculpture brought into Citygarden since it opened about two years ago. I suspect that it was part of the original plan but production was delayed. The pedestal you see below was there at the opening, empty. People wondered if it was a too-subtle sculpture just by itself. Now we know its purpose.

Many of the works in Citygarden are, by turns, wry, sardonic or funny-scary. This empty costume continues the theme.

TOMORROW: bagpipes can drive you mad. Everybody knows that.