December 2010

Model Citizens #7
Wichita, Kansas
2010

Way back when I used to occasionally play the original version of the Trivial Pursuit game. After playing the game for a while, one strategy I came up with for guessing when I didn’t know the answer to a question was to guess John Kennedy if it was a question about a man and Marilyn Monroe if the question was about a woman. That didn’t always work, but there were so many questions about those two in the game it certainly improved the odds. That same obsession with these icons of history carries over to antique stores too. (Recall John Kennedy in the background of Model Citizens #1).

Model Citizens #6
Wichita, Kansas
2010

For a lady in mourning this woman has a curious look of subdued mirth on her face.

Model Citizens #5
Wichita, Kansas
2010

The mannequin population of this antique store was primarily female, making it a good place I suppose for a rugged outdoorsy guy like Mr. Sam here to get a date.

Model Citizens #4
Wichita, Kansas
2010

The red fruit hanging on the wall in the background makes this mannequin look like she’s got some sort of an understated Carmen Miranda thing going on.

Model Citizens #3
Wichita, Kansas
2010

I hardly ever even notice mannequins in department or clothing store windows. In that sterile context they seem like nothing more than the plastic people that they really are. But placed in amongst the paraphernalia of a “junque” store they seem more life-like, like they could be a model of a real person with an interesting story to tell.

Model Citizens #2
Wichita, Kansas
2010

My wife says gloves are coming back in style. I assume she meant for women, and in other than hand warming situations. If so, there could be a run on these old junk stores. Until they’re discovered by some Wichita fashionista, this pair serves as a good prop for this eclectic ensemble of goodies.

Model Citizens #1
Wichita, Kansas
2010

I was driving around in downtown Wichita with my mother earlier this month and she pointed out this big antique/junk store that she had been in recently. She wasn’t impressed and didn’t stay long. She said it was just full of, well, a bunch of junk. So naturally I went back later and spent a couple of hours photographing inside. I liked the random arrangements of unrelated items all over the store, a major exercise in visual free-association; note President and Jackie Kennedy peeking over the shoulder of the mannequin head in this photo, and the Hummel figures seemed to have made off with one of Santa’s boots. There were a number of these mannequins around the store, prompting this series on model citizens.

Happy Holidays
Wichita, Kansas
2010

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to view my POTDs this year. Having a loyal audience is the best gift an artist can receive.

Stacking Chairs
Bozeman, Montana
2010

An abstract pattern formed by a bunch of stacking chairs. I took this photo to entertain myself during a slow attendance day at an art show at the local fairgrounds the day after Thanksgiving. Apparently everyone was standing in line for Black Friday bargains at Walmart or somewhere rather than shopping for art. Maybe we should have opened at 5:00 a.m. with some doorbuster specials.

Ayse
Denver International Airport, Colorado
2010

The sculpture Ayse by Belgin Yucelen. Ayse lives in a plexiglass display box in the Denver airport. According to the Urban Dictionary, Ayse is a Turkish female name meaning “she whom must be obeyed.” Somehow that’s not what I’m getting from this sculpture.