SMALL AT LARGE

after designing a monument to david bowie.  my daughter Lucia Small ,  pushing for me to do a monument for black lives matter.  but i then realizing the bowie   monument  has the overtones of   a rainbow of black lives matter.  i a martin luther king  rainbow guy of all lives matter ,  but totally into black lives matter with no violence or looting.   lucia upon seeing the result saying love this”.

the next step is convincing others to built.

like most original art,  the idea is the gift,  the refining and perfecting a given.

the model is rough,  and another layer of glitter etc can be added,  but that might create distractions with the sun etc for photos.  

david bowie was an interest of a friend of mine.  i had heard the name,  but never dealt with it.   he was right there in the seventies when i was into Simon and Garfunkel,  Joan Baez , Beach Boys.

i a believer in  “smile on your brother everybody get together and try and love one another right now”. by the young bloods.  

after researching david bowie, i had  a vision from above while sleeping that startled me.  the vision showing me an image of  a monument to david bowie. i awoke and said,  what i have got to lose?  thus designing and creating a model of what i felt portrayed his professional and personal life from the  vision image.  

he a complex creative character that was ever changing his music, image, personal life, and drive to get attention.  that said he was into entertainment of the cutting edge.  the more shock the better for him.  he tried everything he could including the rhinestone leather slither look.   cross dressing was his forte.   

the music accompanied with creative poetry stories and a heavy beat and convoluted sounds.  i not one to judge,  but some saying he was the best.  

he ended up living a straight life with.  black wife and daughter and dressing in tuxes and doing the black and white clothing which is still cool for artists like myself.

i know i am not to talk about the monument,  and just let others read into it what they feel and experience.  but i have reasons for the drama.

the shapes are spontaneous and not organic structured. but basically triangle spikes pointing to heaven and earth.  but at the same time edgy like bowie€™s  drug highs with pointed objects  etc.  the triangles clash and bang  sliding on each other and not matching up,  yet the energy keeps flowing  with green grabbing the earth to heal.  

the monument structure is 60′ high, with a couple of street stages to perform. enough for a small band . a few singers ,speakers or dancers . the stages piercing out into the audience.   the lighting ever changing.  these  are not full blown stages,  but a drop stage in at intersection,  top of a building, crowning a mountain , or urban  park  that can be used to perform.  

the tips  spit out laser flashes.  with drop down cables to rise speakers and performers up and down,  dropping out of the sky being one of david favorite things to do.

bowie dressing in all colors,  black and white formal stuff.  rock and roll pink high.  the orange depicting his ever in your face hair.

monuments are drama at night,  but during the day they have to hold their own in the sun.  off the grid with solar.

the varied colors are  latin,  so prevalent in countries south of the border.   but also found in the middle east.  Africa   Russia red square onion turrets etc.

monuments can be built for individuals,  but my purpose is to let humanity interact in a positive way.  this is perfect for black lives matter  speeches.     little richard would be happy doing his thing here.   people will react and say this is latin,  that is ok too.  others might say this is the asian punk explosion of the radical youth,  fine with me.  Pakistan and India will say it is their colors.  and  scuba divers will say it reminds them of sea urchins and coral fish.  oh yes, the white spikes resonate too.  the green connecting to the living earth.

some will say this is an extravaganza,  but  it brings a new dimension for thousands to enjoy  and have a performance of their own.

sending this out to family and friends has crated a deluge of remarks.  the most common being this reminds them of bird of paradise.  depicting beauty.  one saying it is trumps folly because of the clash and bang of the shapes.

i realizing to just stand back and let people judge for themselves.  bowie revered by many.  very creative,  a couple of my friends saying he was the best.   but he had his dark side that included a tv  interview saying England could use fascism and giving a nazi salute from a Mercedes Benz open convertible when arriving to do a show.  he later saying he was strung out on drugs and meant no harm.

david  saying just before john lennon died while dining with him,  that Lennon said bowie was into rock and roll,  and he Lennon was into saving the world.  €œimagine” being a favorite of david to sing.       david devastated when john Lennon was killed.

baron wolman my famous photographer friend that did the rolling stones magazine photos for Woodstock saying:  Coolio, Glen.  What are the possibilities the homage to Ziggy Stardust will see the light of day?  

good question.   you out there make it happen.    

love,  

glen