I've got an artist friend who goes crazy every once in awhile and frolics madly through the woods, howling like Tarzan. Actually there are some who think he's crazy all the time, but I think its a part-time malady.
When I go crazy, I like to keep it to myself. The doctor that deals in those kinds of afflictions would probably say that's real madness - a little unseriousness is healthy, most particularly when it's shared and laughed about.When I was in architecture school, a fellow student took leave of his senses and, atop his towering highrise creation, he placed King Kong and a few bi-wing planes in mortal combat. Back in the '60s, the Department of Architecture must have taken life a little more seriously because they didn't appreciate King Kong interfering with creativity. Today, they seemed to have loosened up a tad and recently teamed up with students of architecture to sponsor a little absurdity in the first annual International Domicile Competition, which resulted in a little madness, and some sophisticated art.
Some examples of the entries are drawn or reviewed in today's article.
Perhaps you've spent a lot of time wondering what happens to our lonely arthritic feathered friends when their last chick has flown the coop and it's time for geriatric wheels and meals.
Kazuo Matsubayashi's "Group Living Center for Elderly Birds" addresses these relevant issues. He did not leave out a few significant details such as: Do retired elderly birds need elevators, eight foot corridors through which to maneuver their wheel chairs and stainless steel kitchens to serve minced worms?
A very artful "Reptile Habitat for Floridus Pastellus Reptilus" is constructed of leaded glass stained in snake colors. Ohhhhh, yesssss, my reptilian friend hissed when I pointed it out to him. He says he will not cease slithering until he gets one for his very own. Marveloussssss! The reptile habitat was one of my favorites - it would look nice in a home with or without a snake in it. However, my friend was a bit unsure about backing into this artful habitat. He tells me that snakes don't have a reverse gear and backing up has a tendency to go against the grain. Hisssy, hisssy - pickkky, pickkky.
The winner of the competition was Jim Lewis. Lewis' abode was named "Pigeons" and, you guessed it, it is a tribute to architecture's most notable freeloader. "Pigeons" is a sculpture of Mies van der Rohe, LeCorbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright - three of the greatest architects ever to pick up a T-square - with hands outstretched to shelter the revered bird. Appropriately, the sculpture is white.
We all know that turtles have houses - permanent, expandable, mobile and structurally sound. But to Jerry Landry, the turtle must be bored out of his shell. So, how about a romanesque front porch for the sluggish creature.
There is also a "Home for the Colony of Neotropical Flying Foxes." This is a place any sophisticated flying mouse would love. Batty in every respect, the neotropical flying fox home is in vogue in the finest flying mammal habitats. This bat-winged triplex was created by Thomas Lindblom and Deborah Colby.
And have you ever wondered what "Ant Hell" is like? Shelley Marie Hill knows. In her creature domicile, Hill shows everything an ant doesn't want in the hereafter - flames, bars, abstract forms and bright colors, all leading nowhere. Ant hell is a place to teach aimless ants a lesson. I believe it would teach us a few lessons also. Can you imagine being shrunk to the size of an ant, living in their psychedelic acrylic sand hill hell and being forever chased by these devilish creatures with clacking pinchers?
All right, this nonsense has gone far enough. Do turtles need romanesque porticoes? Do birds need retirement condominiums? Do bats need lighted umbrellas to roost under? No! These creatures have enjoyed life throughout the millenia without our assistance. It is we who have the need - a need for a little comic relief in a creative recipe.