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Thursday, April 05, 2018
Inside the World of Virginia’s Roadside Attraction King
Atlas Obscura: Imagine winding down the switchbacks of a rural mountain road into the tiny town of Buena Vista, Virginia. You glide down sleepy Main Street, passing renovated Victorian-style homes and small businesses, when suddenly you spot three eight-foot-long ants affixed to the facade of an old three-story brick building. Blinking, you spy giant cartoonish grasshoppers peering down from nearby fire escapes and rooftops. A mosquito clinging to a pharmacy sign. A giant spider perched in a park tree. A praying mantis gazing at the doors of a church.
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6 comments:
So, we have all seen these things. You are driving down a highway or some frontage road, and you will see a dinosaur or a giant horse plopped right in front of a self storage lot or some other weird place. And When ever I see one of these odd sights, I never really think about the person who made them. Instead, I think about what business would ever pay for this giant cement beast. And you know it's never the business that's there currently. SO, what old business thought it was a great idea to have a giant Paul Bunyan outside their shop. An outdoors place? You'd hope. But now he's guarding some Tai food place. I've seen some weird ones, there are quite a few in Albuquerque.
I really appreciate folk art like this. Untrained people who are just creating to create. It really has a huge place in American art as a whole. It is a huge subset that is so often overlooked or ignored because of its apparent ubiquity or the lack of training, but to me, it is some of the most inspired, natural art that is produced. There is something so raw and artistic about an art piece that was made out of what the artist was able to get their hands on. I have no problem considering these art. They are not refined, pristine pieces, but that does not devalue them or take away from what they are. Their scale and the ideas behind them are enough to impress me and keep me interested. I think artists like this do a lot for their small communities, bringing art to them that they otherwise might never experience.
Wow! Being from Virginia and having run into some of these sculptural oddities firsthand, I never would have imagined this guy would show up on my news feed here in Pittsburgh! Small world, I guess. Small worlds aside, I always thought that this guy was what I would grow up to be like when I was a kid. When I was young(er), I would daydream about making giant dinosaurs or leaving surprising creatures in wait for unsuspecting bystanders. In the vein of April fools day, this reminds me of when my mother would leave alarming creatures composed from stuffed animals/Halloween costumes/mannequins lying in wait for us in covert locations on April Fools day much to our shock and horror. I guess this type of silly, surprising art, when combined with its origin in my home state brings back a lot of memories for me. Perhaps I'll start leaving fun surprises around Purnell! It would make life more exciting for sure. Watch out!
This guy literally took his crafting skills and weird sense of humor and made a career out of them - which is pretty cool. I’m always impressed or at least confused when I see installations like this, but hey, they’re usually something fun to look at. Cline seems pretty resilient from working odd jobs and little things while also creating the crazy museums and experiences that he does. He also seems pretty determined since both of his main attractions were burned down - he should probably look more into fire code all things considered. I think I have seen some of his work in the news before as he does have a lot of traction in the media now and I bet he’s part of some contract with Ripley’s museums since they’re all about this kind of artwork and sculpture-work. Overall, Cline seems like a pretty cool dude who just wants to make some art.
think roadside attractions are really interesting because Cline’s art doesn’t really fit into a museum or a sculpture garden. Roadside attractions are allowed to be weird and funny, because there is no metric for measuring that type of art. Strange art is always super interesting because it becomes its own category. I find his attitude and fearlessness to create really inspiring. I love his attitude that, “My hope is, you see these things and have a chuckle. If I can startle a person into forgetting their woes and feeling good, even if it’s just for a second—that’s my metric for success.” There is a certain purity in his attitude that is unique, because he creates specifically to create and for the enjoyment of other people. Even though I am in school to pursue art and challenge myself, it also inspires me to let go just create and not always worry about whether it's good or not.
Well this is something that I find very interesting. I am really inspired by Mark Cline’s achievement of making a career doing something that he loves so freely. There is such a simple genius in what he does. He takes his next crazy idea and makes it not only a reality for himself, but a reality for anyone who stands where he stood. He has found a way to bring others into the way that his mind saw the world for just a moment, and that is something that is really interesting and bold. I like that he doesn’t fear being thought of as ‘disruptive’ or looked down upon. He does his work to breathe a little fantasy and entertainment into the lives of anyone he can. I really like that he doesn’t create things to make an impact that changes a life for all of eternity and force someone to see the world through a completely new lens. I appreciate that he lets his art be just a moment for someone, and that is enough for him. All that being said, I think his stuff is really cool.
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