What if the Cosmic Cube were bigger so it’s harder to steal, prettier than a 6-sided die, and held a more enlightening kind of power?
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…
Every MCC miniseries devoted to the fair has at least one chapter devoted to the works of art we encounter in the various exhibit halls. Art took center stage this year courtesy of Newfields (f/k/a the Indianapolis Museum of Art), who stepped into the role of “presenting sponsor” and brought new flourishes to old spaces.
Families who’re all about the Midway rides may notice extra decorations at the entrance.
Big palette! Big paints! Some plants, real and fake!
Even bigger paint! More flowers! Decorative butterfly!
Big paintbrush! Big still life! More flowers!
Still more flowers! One of nature’s best arts, if you will.
Representing the unnatural: 3-D clown painting! Black velvet sold separately.
Over on the Main Street island next to the F-A-R photo-op letters were still more flower arrangements, which included lantana…
…and Persian shield.
As the presenting sponsor, Newfields had the honor and privilege of taking over the Harvest Pavilion to fill as they saw fit. Contents of the temporarily rebranded “Artscape” hall included a Newfields gift shop, a photo gallery advertising their current and upcoming exhibitions, and the Play Patch where Anne frolicked with gleeful abandon.
This way to Art™!
Artscape’s feature presentation was All the Flowers Are for Me: Turquoise, a 2017 installation by Pakistani-American artist Anila Quayyum Agha, who’s based here in Indy. She came to America in 2000 and has had similar room-sized works set up in multiple countries. The core is an LED light inside a steel cube suspended from the ceiling. Each side is laser-cut with Persian architectural flower motifs that cast shadows onto six surrounding, disconnected surfaces, altogether designed to form a welcoming space.
As composed in-shot, it looks like what if DC’s Mr. Nobody built his own TIE Fighter.
The floor below.
The platform above.
Sample shadow patterns on one of the walls.
For State Fair guests who’d like to see more art from across the centuries and the world, Newfields has extended a special offer — bring your fair tickets or program to the museum for free admission anytime between now and September 30th. Even without the numerous discount offers available, State Fair tickets are cheaper than Newfields’ general admission, making it a pretty sweet deal for anyone interested in doing both. (That’s assuming you aren’t fed up with their drama in recent times. Long story.) One caveat: this sweet deal does not include The Lume, their popular influencer-playland special exhibit we checked out on my birthday a few years ago.
Guests who find all this frightening and confusing may wish they’d just filled the Harvest Pavilion with farming exhibits or Lego animals or superheroes or sports stuff again like years past. fear not! The State Fair is still the State Fair. Other feats of artistic expression can be viewed elsewhere. We’ll post more about those in later chapters (including, as always, more Lego), but one particular de facto gallery stood out upon our immediate entrance to the fair: chainsaw art!
Don’t like the pocket-sized toy animals you can buy your kids at any given museum shop? Have we got an alternative for YOU!
Due to excessive wanderlust and failure to check our timepieces, Anne and I missed nearly all this year’s scheduled shows, programs, presentations, and parades. As we were leaving at the end of the day, we walked near the 4:00 outdoor-studio performance by Chris Lantz of Extreme Sculpting, whose specialty is carving animal statues out of logs with a chainsaw. Working behind a safety net to prevent damage to audience members, the artist buzzed and sheared at his next piece, sawdust spitting from his preferred medium as the latest creature revealed itself from within.
Finished pieces appear to undergo polishing and lacquering for final finesse, but we missed any demonstration of that part of the process.
In fact, upon entering the fairgrounds that very morning, his previously completed objets d’art were the first sights to greet us before we ran headlong toward the concession stands.
Most of his works are custom-made and available at a variety of price points depending on the size and complexity of what you have in mind.
I doubt he does imaginary creatures such as unicorns or Grogu, but who knows.
I like to think this is his adorable mascot, Chainy the Chainsawed Bear.
…in conclusion, the Indiana State Fair is a land of contrasts.
To be continued! Other chapters in this very special miniseries:
Part 1: Our “Taste of the Fair” Tour
Part 2: Let’s Pretend We’re Influencers
Part 4: Land of the Glowing Giants
Part 5: Food for Displaying, Not Devouring
Part 6: The Year in Lego
Part 7: The Year in Antiques
Part 8: The Year in Art
Part 9: The Rest of Our Day
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