Weird Shit

So many people call themselves artists these days that it's often hard to know what the word means anymore. I'm guessing that anything one dreams up in their own head and makes real is considered to be "art."  The first things that pop into mind are the paintings, drawings and sculptures filling the halls of museums around the world. This group includes the famous Mona Lisa painted by Leonardo Da Vinci, not to be confused with Leonardo DiCaprio who is damn good too. But it also includes music, poetry, novels, acrylic nails, baked goods, furniture, jewelry, interior decorating, architecture, acting, lighting, sound, shoes, clothing, cars, film, and landscaping. The list goes on, potentially endless.

Being an artist myself, I have a deep well of empathy and sympathy for others of my ilk. I am willing to extend the definition to include almost anything created in earnest out of whole cloth. But even I have my limits. Last weekend, on a cold rainy day, I sought shelter from the storm inside a huge antiques mall with a visiting friend who loves that sort of thing. We went to the cavernous Fort Andross Mill in Brunswick, Maine; it's got it all.

Included in "all" were two items I saw that come under their own category I named "Weird Shit." Shown below, I wonder about the artists who brought these items forth from inside their heads, out into the world, and now inside my head. I am hoping they are in some kind of facility, being well cared for.

Plastic & Chicken Wire "Hand Chair"

Lamp Base with Four Authentic, Now-Dead Deer Legs