Chartreuse Cloud Monster (Wayne Ferrebee, 2016, cardboard and paint)
Hypothetically, sometimes, at one’s day job one has a pushy colleague who loudly demands things and stridently lobbies for oh say…all new office furniture. It is a conundrum whether to simply bow to the wishes of the assertive colleague who demands a credenza from the internet, or whether one should go to one’s superiors and assess whether this is the right use for the office credit card. One could potentially be caught between bickering superiors fighting over a cheap credenza. Hypothetically.
In unrelated news, office credenzas come packed in extremely heavy cardboard boxes. This cardboard seemed perfect for building something, so instead of throwing it into a landfill, I cut it out and brought it home to build into strange new life (thereby erasing any unpleasant office politics which may or may not have been involved in its acquisition).
Tawny Elder Monster (Wayne Ferrebee, 2016, cardboard and paint)
Last year I crafted a three-dimensional anglerfish/horse type monster in bright fluorescent colors to go with the blooming cherry tree. This year I decided to build three ambiguously shaped blossom monsters out of the heavy cardboard from some, uh, office furniture. The first monster (chartreuse, at the top), was meant to represent the life giving power of spring clouds. He is a cloud creature squirming with tadpoles–or maybe Yin/Yang spirit energy…however the guests at my party thought he was a three eyed camel with sperm on him (which I guess is also true, from a certain point of view). I wonder if Henry Moore had to deal with this sort of rough-and-ready interpretation of his abstract sculptures.
The second statue, which may be the best, is an orange figurine somewhere between a wise bird and a tribal warrior. It has the cleanest lines and the best paint job and it is only marred by a slight tendency to curl up (there is always something! Especially if one is dealing with cardboard sculpture).
Pink Sphinx Figure(s?) (Wayne Ferrebee, 2016, cardboard and paint)
Finally I made a sort of pink octopus/sphinx with a glowing pink interior. Again one friend looked at it and said “It’s a Pierson’s puppeteer!” (this being a meddlesome three-footed, two-headed extraterrestrial super-being from Larry Niven science fiction novels).
Another friend looked at it and said “Why is it so explicit? I can’t believe you would show such violent erotic ravishment at your cherry festival!”
So, I guess my blossom monsters are more evocative and more ambiguous than I meant for them to be (I was sort of thinking of them as a cross between Dr. Seuss and African carvings). Please let me know what you think! Oh and here is a colored pencil drawing of the orange one cavorting beneath the cherry tree!
Blooming Cherry Tree (Wayne Ferrebee, 2016, colored pencil and ink)
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6 comments
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April 27, 2016 at 12:05 AM
~~Silk
Yeah, that third one my immediate thought was, “Isn’t that Miley Cyrus and What’s-his-name?” Your parties look like fun.
April 27, 2016 at 4:56 PM
Wayne
Dang it! I saw it as a sort of octopus centaur with a little wing. Then when I squinted at it, I saw it as a bulbous sphinx type monster with a parrot beak and a big brain. Only after my friend pointed it out did I see the amorous couple…but now I can’t un-see it. It’s like the vase that turns into two faces.
April 30, 2016 at 4:09 PM
Neomys Sapiens
Indeed, I’ve seen enough Hentai to know where this is going. And I know that you know about ‘the Fisherman’s Wife’ so you can admit that you planned it that way. But that is ok, as the trend is reported to be toward consensual tentacles.
May 3, 2016 at 1:49 PM
Wayne
Belligerent! Multitudinous! yet surprisingly gentle…
May 9, 2016 at 2:20 AM
Beatrix
I’m liking the idea of repurposed cardboard as temporary garden art.
The charteuse object looks like a camel with a severe dental issue & giant spermatazoan things attacking him.
I like tawny elder monster the best because he looks like a djinn or genie.
Yes, the pink octopus looks like he’s copulaitng with one of those silhouetted ladies emblazoned on the tire flaps of semis. And then just to add emphasis the artist put a big pink explosion in the center.
Someone stole an iron Buddha from my fenced yard! I was thinking of cutting up an old vinyl table cloth to make pennants to hang in my yard, they might even survive the Monsoon!
June 2, 2016 at 5:34 PM
Wayne
I still see the pink one as an octopus sphinx, but thanks to all of this risque talk I am designing a new generation of voluptuous ambiguous monster shapes with even more louche colors. I am exceedingly sorry someone took your Buddha! Let me know how the vinyl pennants work? I love suspended art!