Ladies and gentlemen, the Beatles performing their big hit, “A Hard Day’s Knit”!
Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:
It’s that time again! The Indiana State Fair is an annual celebration of Hoosier pride, farming, food, and 4-H, with amusement park rides, cooking demos, concerts by musicians either nearly or formerly popular, and farm animals competing for cash prizes without their knowledge. My wife Anne and I attend each year as a date-day to seek new forms of creativity and imagination within a local context…
Yep, I realize the fair ended over a month ago and no one cares anymore. Between Fan Expo Chicago, Dragon Con, movies, offline life and other hobbies, I’ve been sidetracked by higher priorities. Nevertheless, I’ve committed to finishing this miniseries of galleries for posterity and for myself. If a few images strike your fancy as well as mine, then hey, cool.
Anne and I are at that age when we’re more interested in visiting the exhibit halls than in rattling our bones on the Midway rides. We enjoy seeing what new works of paint, photography, building blocks, and science have been offered up for the various competitions. The State Fair holds its massive celebrations on behalf of our farmers, but Indiana has no shortage of artists, either. Whether adults or kids, the illustrators, sculptors, dollmakers and other artisans come from all demographics, work in multiple media, and bring ideas from pop culture as well as from their own influences and home lives. They each contribute in their own ways to the Hoosier State creative legacy.
Stained glass giraffe by Ashley Smith, whose past works have included stained glass Ursula and stained glass Deadpool.
Eric Carle’s Very Hungry Caterpillar.
Batty Koda, Robin Williams’ character from FernGully: The Last Rainforest.
Wool puppets from someone’s Dungeons & Dragons campaign.
Shelf-mates: an octopus, a Chain Chomp from the Super Mario universe, and a cozy winter teddy.
That time Mario skinned a Piranha Plant and wore it as a hat.
A stuffed WWII fighter plane with an elephant pilot, from a most curious alternate Earth.
A sizable tortoise named Shelly.
A bejeweled bull’s head. (Possibly not real.)
A child’s Dr. Seuss chair.
A Starry Night cello.
Boy with Starry Night umbrella, like the ones Newfields was selling at their Lume installation four years ago.
Monument Circle at sunset.
An assortment of Indiana symbols in a sort of Paul Pope style.
The poison frog sculptures in last year’s “Illuminate” exhibition.
A crab dead-lifting a fish in triumph.
Monkey D. Luffy from One Piece.
Miyazaki pants.
Gamer in repose.
Carl Fredriksen’s house from Up.
Pixar’s Wall-E.
A Star Wars poster of sorts.
National parks and other attractions.
A tribute to the late director David Lynch.
Timothee Chalamet, probably.
Harley Quinn.
A salute to Hocus Pocus, which I haven’t seen.
Fisher Price Addams Family!
To be continued! Other chapters in this very special MCC miniseries:
Part 1: Our “Taste of the Fair” Tour
Part 2: The Soundtrack of Summer
Part 3: The Year in Food, “Look But Don’t Taste” Division
Part 4: The Year in Lego
Part 6: The Year in Antiques
Part 7: Outtakes and More!
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Wonderful photos from the Indiana State Fair art exhibit, an amazing mix of folk creativity and modern culture. I loved how it combined traditional works with pop-inspired touches.
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Thanks! It’s fun to see what inspirations appeal to young local creators today.
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