Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Conceptual Art That Doesn't Suck: The Fairy Door

Not all conceptual art is created by no talent punks. In fact, some projects can have a wonderful air of poetry about them, even when they involve pranking the public (gently). From the Des Moines Register:

The next time you're at Gray's Lake Park, step off the path and look around a little.

If you're lucky, you'll spot it: A tiny door with bronze hinges and knob, carefully built into a cottonwood overlooking the lake.

Not even Des Moines Parks and Recreation officials have a clue who made the little wooden door or how long it has been in the tree.

Turns out the "fairy door" was a creation of "Oleum Serpentis", who writes:

There is a lake near my home that has a walking/biking path around it with parks, beaches and picnic tables scattered about. I found a tree with a curious hole in the base of the trunk and I was seized by inspiration. I cobbled together a wooden box with a medieval style door on it, installed it into the tree's cavity.

I keep bits of parchment paper and a small pencil in the box and once a week I check it. When the weather is nice I get 2-3 notes a week, usually from children. If the note writer signs their name, I leave a reply signed "Seamus O'Gray".

Quite charming, really, and you can see more pictures through the links above.
PS. It is New Year's day and I am un-hung-over. Blame that cursed modern invention, "the cash bar", which required that I balance my ability to consume alcohol with the need to get a cab home. I have a very strange sense of mental clarity this morning.

3 comments:

Ti-Guy said...

Aw...you didn't use the word "whimsical."

I gave up ringing in the new year hungover ages ago. Happy New Year.

Jay said...

What a bust.

I thought for a second someone had found out where Gary Lunn has been hiding.

900ft Jesus said...

awww! Too cute. If it makes people happy and gets their imaginations going without causing harm, that's a good thing.