Have you seen this guy?
That fellow wearing the suit made of plastic bags is Michael Spires of Columbia. I ran across this photo recently and laughed and wondered what ever became of the notorious Mr. Spires. I think he told me he was leaving school to join some branch of the military. This photo was taken by one of his classmates after he got up in the middle of working on one of his projects and decided to make and model a suit of plastic bags. This guy was a hoot and I joked with him that in 20 years he'd probably be a senator in our fine state. I have not checked any government websites, but if you know Mr. (or Senator) Spires and know what he's doing these days, please let me know. 
The summer has been productive so far and there are new sculptures and drawings on the website. There should be a link to the website right over there. You'll find a few new sculptures and 2 or 3 new drawings. There's also a new exhibit coming up in Tryon, NC. There's lots more reading and thinking and sketching going on, so I'm hoping for more creative production soon.
Cute kid alert:
For some reason this reminds me of the mid 1980's. Or that vampire movie starring Jim Carrey before he got famous and started talking out of his rump. I suppose watching cartoons teaches children certain things about visual communication. Tonight he pointed to a drawing of a frog with a down turned eyebrow and said, "OOOOOh, look, he's MAD!". That's a pretty subtle clue for a little guy to pick up on. Then he took me to his room and told me we were going to watch TV. He instructed me exactly where to look on the wall while he took a ladder from his fire truck and used it as a remote control. I think we watched several shows before he turned the wall off and went to bed.
As this stint of single-colored, goofy sculptures comes to a slow, progressing-into-something-else end, I find myself reminiscing, thinking of the first time I viewed your sculptures. I'm slightly hesitant about your new work, but only because it's become so different from what I fell in love with 3 years ago.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.facebook.com/srch.php?nm=Michael+Spires
A very well thought out comment, Brandon. I'm likely more hesitant than you about the new stuff. It's difficult to walk confidently in a direction when you're not really sure where you're going. I hope you'll keep checking in as the work evolves.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a facebooker at all, but I did not see the "real" Michael Spires in the search results. I have a feeling his life is draped in mystery.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.