crafthaus

Mike Godell, "Birdcraft"
Stevens Point Sculpture Park, Stevens Point, WI
Habitat for: Chimney Swifts, 16ft tall
Assorted Lumber, Found objects, Epoxy, Varnish, Galvanized Steel legs
Image 1: Stevens Point Sculpture Park

http://mikegodell.blogspot.com

https://www.facebook.com/mikegodellart

Birdcraft was built with the intention of exploring the aesthetic possibilities of constructed Chimney Swift habitats and to raise awareness of the bird.

Sculptures for Wildlife Habitat, a crafthaus online exhibition, June 7 to July 7, 2013.

Curator: Greg Gorman

Feel free to leave your comments and questions on the comment wall!

In the popular press of the 1880s and 1890s, "dude" was the new word for “dandy” – a man who paid particular importance to his appearance. The cafe society of the late 1800s and early 1900s was populated with dudes, young men of leisure vying to show off their wardrobes. The best known dude of the time was likely Mr. Evander Berry Wall.

Born into a wealthy New York family, Wall owned his first racehorse at the age of 16 and inherited $2 million before he turned 22. He was also quite the clotheshorse. One contemporary described him once as wearing a "very extraordinary costume", such as "a dust coat of a reddish havana brown, a suit made of a large grey shepherd plaid check; extremely wide pants tapered at the ankle, and turned up several inches to display white spats and highly varnished shoes, a 'startling' striped shirt in red and sky blue, with a very high false collar of a pattern different from the shirts, a striped vest and a widely spread stock-cravat.” (Editor’s note: Sounds just like an early 1980s outfit I once wore.) Wall was credited with possessing over 500 trousers and 5,000 neckties, and the New York American newspaper in 1888 proclaimed him "King of the Dudes".

To win a bet against John "Bet a Million" Gates, Wall once managed to change clothes 40 times between breakfast and dinner. He appeared on the race track "in one flashy ensemble after the other until, exhausted but victorious he at last entered the ballroom of the United States Hotel in faultless evening attire."

Marissa Saneholtz, Greenville, NC

Anthony Tammaro, Philadelphia, PA

Heng Lee, Kaohsiung, TAIWAN

James Malonebeach, Mt. Pleasant, MI

Fliss Quick, Guetersloh, GERMANY

Christiana Byrne, Coralville, IA

Kelly Robinson, St. Louis, MO

For the musical greeting this week here's a video by one of the coolest dudes on the planet. He sure lives in his own mind and forges his own path. If you ever have a chance to see him in concert, GO!