Sow What?

A little more on our previous conversation about the Sower—yes, I took the photograph. But how did I get a picture of something locked in a crate and not scheduled to be unveiled until midsummer? It just so happens that I found the place that was restoring it—The Conservation of Sculpture and Objects Studio—was having an open house one day. The Angel, X, and I showed up to view the sculpture before its official installation.

Winding our way through the mostly-Polish-speaking crowd, we found all our man S freshly spiffed up from his hot wax treatment. Photography didn’t seem to be prohibited, so I popped off a few shots. I was also able to speak to conservationist Andre Dajnowski, and some members of his staff. I was told that quite a bit of restoration projects the studio gets are from the city of Chicago. Someone “finds” a statue laying in a forgotten park or some lost lot somewhere. Evidently, there isn’t a list of public statues that has been kept by the city. One wonders if there isn’t a list of lost statues elsewhere, in the place where unwritten novels are kept, or photographs of a beautiful girl on the day the camera neglected to be loaded with film. If there is, now that he’s arrived, the Sower must be boldly struck from that list.

Other works were present in the studio as well. X uncovered some sketches of elaborate tangled curlycues decorating vaulted archways. Having not eaten all day, I was famished. Luckily, buffet tables were filled with many good things. I had scarfed down half of a plateful of a peeled white grape salad before I realized they weren’t white grapes at all. X postulated that they might be some form of outsized tapioca. The Angel and I took turns eating things from the buffet table until I ate the pansy garnish. We met an artist while we were there, one Dolan Geiman, who seems to have unlimited artistic stamina and appears to be having a show next weekend. Anyone interested in coming?

And as a sidenote, the Gracious Angel was quite taken with the seven-foot-tall man of black bronze. The Sower seemed to hold court as a powerful personification of fecundity and fertility. Swooningly through her schoolgirlish giggles, she commented on the statue’s uncircumsized penis at least twice.

Interestingly enough, Angel and X are now expecting their first child.

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Family Fun: How many veiled references to fertility and ubertic euphemisms can you find in the story above?

Sower

unveiled

midsummer

open house

installation

Polish

spiffed up

hot wax

popped off

a few shots

members

his staff

laying

forgotten park

lost lot

loaded

arrived

boldly struck

present

uncovered

tangled curlycues decorating vaulted archways

eaten

Luckily

buffet

filled

good things

scarfed

down

peeled

grapes

postulated

outsized

tapioca

took turns

I ate the pansy garnish

unlimited … stamina

having a show

Anyone interested in coming?

Posted by Ned at avril 23, 2005 08:42 PM