THE DINOSARTIST

(Click for larger view)

There are sights that I begin to anticipate each time I drive into the parking lot of an interstate Stuckey's.. Pecan Logs, 3 for $10 t-shirts, and if I'm lucky, a flocked Jack-a-lope bank. But fifteen years ago on a road trip to New Orleans I encountered more than I had ever hoped for in a rest stop.. I discovered the work of art that you see pictured above.

While the piece is officially untitled it could best be described as a chain of plastic souvenir dinosaurs achieved with a series of crammings of tails into mouths. I welled up with joy when I first approached it. The clerk must have been confused by my laughter, followed by my dash to the car for the camera, followed by more laughter. I stood and puzzled at the mental process behind such a funny and unexpected result, and I delighted in the thought of some unbridled virtuoso standing there, taking the time to assemble this plastic feeding parade. It was practically made for me.. it connects three components that I've always been fond of: Stuckey's, cheap toys from China, and the creative spirit.

When the engineer of this accomplishment left Stuckey's they left the fate of their work in the sticky hands of vacationing children. Fortunately it was my destiny to preserve the work on film and eventually exhibit it on a worldwide forum where it shall be admired and discussed one and a half decades after its creation. As of this moment what was once temporary is now.. immortal.