Picture a Day - Day 322

When wandering through a forest there are a few things you expect to find. A messy dirt path, some squirrels munching on whatever they dug out of the garbage as they seriously contemplate throwing it at you, tons of moss for all those terrariums Etsy seems to think we should cover every square foot of our homes with:And of course trees. Lots and lots of, wait. What the heck is that orange thing on the tree?Okay so I'm the one that took the picture so obviously I know exactly what it is. It's called getting into character, right? Now you went and made me break the fourth wall and I just got it re-glassed.

Part of the draw to get people to wander through their fancy woods at Arbor Lodge was an "art" extravaganza. I have a very hate/might be okay with relationship with outside art. Sometimes it can be a neat idea or look cool and other times it's some idiot trying to convince everyone that the chicken wire he dug out of the garbage is actually a reinterpretation of the struggles of man against giant killer chickens from space.

And because he used the magic A word everyone just stands there nodding in agreement.

I'm pretty sure the outside art buyer for the university is actually a rat trapped inside a hamster ball. How else to explain the giant slab taking up what once was a good football field (and no apes with bones in sight), the sculpture that was so dull students came up with a story for it just to give it some character, and the worst of the worse a giant metal tree where they ripped out three real trees to put it up.

All in the eye of the beholder and all that, but if you just want to shut someone up when they're about to raise valid concerns about a project just scream "IT'S ART AND YOU'LL NEVER UNDERSTAND IT!"

It works especially well if you want to defend say your tax reforms or a ham cheese sandwich. The further you get away from art, the easier calling it art works as a defense.

But back to that orange thing, one of the many displays incorporated throughout the forest was called 50 birds & one squirrel.

My husband had a fun time looking for all the birds but towards the end it got pretty easy as two or three little orange glazed birds would be stuck to the same tree.
The artist was running out of native birds really quickly too. I'm pretty sure I saw quail a few times and at one point I could have sworn it was an emu.

I forget exactly what this was called or what it was supposed to be. But for my husband it was the back breaker.
I just liked all the light coming through the slats I had to run through and snap a few pictures.
After a rather bad fever just as it's breaking and the hallucinations are sweeping in have you ever imagined what it would be like if all the trees suddenly turned into evil mutants bent on world destruction?
Just give it a laser gun and you've got my worst nightmares come to life. Thanks Mr. Root man.

This was titled Praying in the Garden of the God. I think a better title would have been "Amok Time: where are the giant Q-tips?" ( if confusion lasts longer than 4 hours consult a star trek nerd).

I always wondered what Giant Praying Mantis about to kill each other would look like.
At least they're not trying to mate. That'd be fun to try and explain to Little Johnny.

See son, in order for the mantis to make babies the mommy has to bite off the daddy's head. And no, not just like what I did last week when your father forgot to move the laundry. Now come along!

The last piece of art (that I bothered to take a picture of and share, there were a few that were so confusing I'm still not sure what the point was) is that kind of art that's supposed to appeal to the childlike sense of humor inside all of us.
I'd say it succeeded quite nicely, though I was tempted to try out the chairs just to see if the little one really was "juuust riight."

What do you think of outside art? Is there some piece that just boggles your mind so much you can't believe the city would fork over millions of dollars for what was drug out of a trash heap?

Anyone else want to hold some artists feet to the fire just to figure out what the hell they were thinking half the time with these?