152/365: Caught In A Vice

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Have you ever had a day when you felt like this, a vise squeezing your temples, grim and sickly expression staring out at the world? I sure have but I don't know that it was any worse than Pinocchio's position in Tom Otterness' Kindly Geppetto, located in Citygarden.

St. Louis Daily Photo is doing some stretches.

128/365: Dark Waters

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And I'm not talking about the Mississippi this time. Just one of the fountains in Citygarden near sunset on a showery day. The water comes down and the water goes up.

St. Louis Daily Photo is eating Mexican ice cream.

117/365: A Walk In The Rain

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One of Julian Opie's kinetic light sculptures in Citygarden, This Is Bruce and Sarah Walking, on their existential amble to nowhere. It was raining softly and near sunset. The out-of-focus dogwood blossoms look like low-hanging clouds.

St. Louis Daily Photo is just as wet today.

116/365: A Wheel For Giant Gerbils

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I was wandering around Citygarden between rain squalls Sunday afternoon, trying to find some downtown material. The Cardinals baseball game was letting out nearby. Two young ladies were taking pictures of one another in part of Bernar Venet's 2 Arcs X 4, 230.5 Degrees Arc X 5. It looks like one is racing through a very abstract gerbil wheel. I hope it's not a prediction of her career path.

River's rising. See St. Louis Daily Photo for details.

115/365: In The Company Of Rabbits

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Looks like I have a not-quite-the-Easter-Bunny theme going on. This rabbit in repose is the Citygarden companion of the one in yesterday's post. It seems to be guarding the way for this family to return to their car after the baseball game.

More bogus bunnies on St. Louis Daily Photo today.

114/365: Easter Bunny

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Well, it's that day in the Christian calendar so we gotta have something appropriate. What kind of eggs will this bunny bring to Citygarden? He or she (no way to tell!) might bring some in painted bronze, just like itself. Maybe chocolate ones, covered in white in a white sugar shell and whatever other seasonings the downtown sky brings. I'm not going egg hunting today, but I may go searching for images.

St. Louis Daily Photo is staying quiet and dark. Maybe it's because of our incessant rain.

99/365:No Swimming

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The city lets children splash around in the fountains at Citygarden. That's a wonderful and surprising thing, given the usual attitudes of insurance companies. The water is on now, the weather is getting warmer, so what's with the sign? It's not like they have a lifeguard.

We are supposed have summer-like weather today, with temperatures in the upper 80s F. or 30 - 31 C. I'll walk by and see if the sign is being ignored. Question authority.

St. Louis Daily Photo needs a sense of direction.

98/365: Mother of Invention

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This has nothing to do with Frank Zappa, although I wish it did. Never saw him perform live. Damn.

But back to the point. In yesterday's post, I was whining about how I was out of downtown material. Necessity being the mother of invention, I went down to Citygarden at lunch time with my point-n-shoot (there's always something to shoot). I noticed that the city had just turned the fountains back on. Eros Bendato sits on a wide circular plinth of granite, tilted just a degree or two down and away from the face. (You can get a better idea from this old post.) In the warmer months, a thin sheet of water trickles from the face to the edge of the plinth, increasing the overall feeling of strangeness. This is how it looks from ground level.

Do you know how many women Don Giovanni wooed in Spain? Then check St. Louis Daily Photo today.

(Answer: mil e tre.)

97/365: Walk/Don't Walk

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Well, make up your mind. Julian Opie's This Is Kiera and Julian Walking violates the Don't Walk sign 24/7. The couple are on an endless existential walk to nowhere, a stroll that has no beginning and no end. I hope the artist didn't mean this as a metaphor for the relationship.

I am desperately low on downtown images that aren't about the Arch. Might have to post a picture of the pen and pencil holder on my desk, or something similarly dire. Maybe I could use that thought as a springboard.

It's the Arch, free soda pop and public nuisance today on St. Louis Daily Photo.

87/365: The Effect Of Sugar On Art

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Sure, our old pal Eros shows up on my blogs a lot but I kinda like this one. It was shot during Saturday's snowstorm. The face has powerful features but it is less potent for having powdered sugar sprinkled all over it. It doesn't have a sweet cream filling but that would sure be nice.

The American Society For Prevention Of Cruelty To Flowers has its say today on St. Louis Daily Photo.

83/365: Wascally Wabbit

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I can't look at a picture of a rabbit without thinking of Bugs Bunny tormenting poor Elmer Fudd. (The clip in the link has Elmer studying photography.) Bugs was frenetic. Not So with Tom Claassen's Two Rabbits in Citygarden (the companion is just outside of the frame). It looks so simple, but I think this is a complex work. At first, the rodent seems stolid and sedentary. When I consider it more, it makes me think of a sumo wrestler about to explode with force. The stance could be that of a guardian, big and strong enough to crush you. But then again, it's just a bunny. It's this kind of stuff than makes contemporary art interesting.

Thursday Arch Series today on St. Louis Daily Photo.

50/365: Wascally Wabbits

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What's up, doc? There is something very disconcerting about Tom Claasen's Untitled (Two Rabbits) in Citygarden. Nice big white fuzzies? Not. They are superficially cute but these things are massive, cast bronze covered with white paint. And, of course, they are faceless and unfeeling. They could crush something on a whim. Run away! Run away!

We've got a portrait of an all around good guy today on St. Louis Daily Photo.

48/365: Haring On Market

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The brightest spot in Citygarden, Kieth Haring's Untitled (Ringed Figure). But that means it is titled, doesn't it? Oh, these wacky artists. The figure appears to stand guard over the snow-bordered sidewalk. The snow is all gone now. It got to 70 F / 21 C today and should be at least as warm tomorrow. Freaky.

The Thursday Arch Series is a bit different today on St. Louis Daily Photo.

34/365: Out For A Walk, Forever

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So far, this year-long blog has had many more images of things than people. It's the middle of winter so that will change; there are plenty of street events in the warmer months. For now, I'm working in human figures with a picture of Julian Opie's This Is Kiera And Julian Walking from Citygarden. The simple animated couple strolls down Market Street, 24 hours a day, every day of the year, and never gets anywhere. Although this looks uncomplicated, its implications range from Zeno's Paradox to Sartre. It's enough to give Homer Simpson a headache.

The Arch gets turned upside down today on St. Louis Daily Photo.

33/365: Current Conditions

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This image is representative of what it's like around here at the moment. A rip roaring winter storm is passing through the Midwest and headed toward the Northeast.

We were fortunate that the worst stuff tracked further north than expected. St. Louis had freezing rain all day Tuesday, falling as tiny ice pellets. We may get a little more Tuesday night into Wednesday. Things will get back to normal soon.

For now, everything is coated in ice, even Pinocchio, as portrayed in Tom Otterness' sculpture Kindly Geppetto in Citygarden. More frozen photos today on St. Louis Daily Photo, like this one.

27/365: Art and Education

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I met painter Henryk Ptasiewicz when I took this picture and we have become friends. He was doing a sketch of everybody's favorite work in Citygarden, Eros Bendato. The local kids were curious. This girl looked amazed. I hope she learned something.

12/365: Snow Mask

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We had some snow Monday night and it looks like it gave poor Pinocchio a headache. Why else would he need a cold compress over his eyes? The photo is the upper half of Jim Dine's Big White Gloves, Big Four Wheels in Citygarden and obviously refers to the puppet. It's remarkable that two works in Citygarden are about Pinocchio. We saw a detail from the other, Kindly Geppetto, a couple of days ago. You can see a photo of that whole statue here.