Yesterday when I posted a photo of my wee customized rescue van and said I needed to find some tiny people to go along with it, it made me think of a work of art I saw last year with Tim and Jim. Houston’s Lawndale Art Center does a juried exhibit each summer called “The Big Show,” with the intention of featuring little-known or unknown local artists. Since Jim usually comes to visit in July, we make it a point to go by Lawndale. He wasn’t able to visit this summer, so I haven’t been to the 2014 exhibit yet, but I figured he’d enjoy remembering this piece from last year.
One of the things I love about looking at art with Jim is how we respond to creations that have a…shall I say, subtly sinister appeal. His reaction is usually to get what I call his Jim look–a lowered head, a raised eyebrow, and an otherwise inscrutable expression until he catches my eye and I start laughing–a kind of nervously appreciative laughter because I don’t know whether I want to curl up and shiver or run away–except I can’t seem to stop staring at the art.
Such was the case when we walked up to this tiny diorama called “End of the Road” by artist Leo Medrano. Tim, Jim, and I all had a kind of eek reaction to what I thought we saw: a man, possibly a hunter, with a big gun confronting a couple in the woods. We liked it; it scared us; I snapped a photo; and after a time, we walked on to the next work.
Except you have to understand, this piece is TINY. The dome it’s under is only eleven inches high, and the people are 1/32nd scale. I wasn’t wearing my glasses, so it wasn’t until I uploaded the photo to my computer that I saw how much more was going on than I first thought. Not one gun, but two. Two bad guys? One bad guy, one potential rescuer? And how much more disturbing that they’re all under glass, caught for all time for us to stare at and wonder about. What should be a bucolic scene–a chance meeting in a natural setting–and who doesn’t smile at a shiny Volkswagen?–teeters on the edge of violence–all for us to view. It’s not just The Hunger Games that questions where our fixation on “reality” entertainment may lead.
I love art.
I swear to GOD, I sent you a naughty little people postcard … at the circus I think….
Sounds familiar.
oh …. and to me this is very Flannery O’Connor
An apt observation. It is sacrilege, I realize, but I’m one of the only people I know who doesn’t like reading Flannery O’Connor. (And I taught her–I didn’t teach her–I taught her stories to college freshmen.) I appreciate the craft, but I can only take a little disturbing, and she offers too much.
I gotta get my eyes checked….. Or seek therapy…. Totally thought those tiny people with guns were standing on a cake. Thought… What are they celebrating with that cake? 😀
Now see, that’s really sinister!
I said, the Speed Limit is… hey where did the rest of the road go?