We’re in the north end of Michigan’s capitol city, Lansing, today the Old Town District is hosting ScrapFest. Here’s how it works; back in June teams had one hour to collect up to 500 lbs of scrap from a local facility, then they have about two weeks to create their sculpture, made entirely of scrap metal. During ScrapFest pieces are displayed and auctioned off, 40% of the proceeds go to the artists, the rest is donated to the Old Town Commercial Association. It’s pretty amazing, check it out…
The day promises to be a hot one, we arrive just as the festival opens; Turner street has been closed to traffic, artist’s tents line the street, sidewalk cafes are overflowing with diners, metal sculptures of varying heights and widths fill the remainder of the street. My eyes follow the finger of a woman pointing to someone in the distance, I zero in on the man wearing hoof shoes and a metal framed horse head for a hat. There’s so much to look at I find myself wandering with no real purpose or plan. Some sculptures are electrified, a couple of cables and a car battery do the trick. A ‘painting’ sits on an easel, look closely to see the city skyline, a church steeple, the moon and the stars, a second one features a bridge–is that the Mackinac? Kris and I marvel at the towering figure in front of us; with the turn of the wheel his arms, hands and fingers come to life.
There’s a sculpture of a crane with a scene of cat tails that would look fabulous in my back yard. A large tree is cloaked in lovely metal flowers, there’s a piece that reminds me of antique Tiffany lamps; green glass and metal form a beautiful canopy of leaves. Each sculpture is unique, so creative, it’s hard to believe the components came from a scrap pile. The angel is getting a lot of attention,her stainless steel feathered wings are magnificent. I like the giant mobile-looking piece, do you remember the game Tip-It? That’s what I thought of when I saw it. Lots of people are taking pictures of the robot DJ with his turntables, how about the candle-powered light bulb, the Knight with his chariot, the silhouette of the horse, the gorgeous fire pit, which one would you bid on?
We pass booths selling mini-sculptures, coasters, key chains, clothing. A line is forming at the food truck, the band is getting ready to play. Kids are making crafts, the street is filling up curious pedestrians. We’re hot and thirsty, Bloom Coffee Roasters is just up the street. Housed in an attractive orange-brick building, the small space serves as a neighborhood gathering spot offering coffee drinks from beans roasted in-house. Folks at the counter are on a first-name basis with the staff, shelves hold bags of freshly roasted beans, mugs and t-shirts. A couple of iced coffees will do the trick for us.
Back outside the street is jam-packed with people, we make our way from Turner to Grand River on the way back to the car. Kris spots some interesting things through the window of The Gallery In Old Town so we go inside. Turns out the Gallery is an Estate Liquidator, they hold auctions and what they have left they bring to the shop to sell off, at really good prices. This particular lot had a bunch of vintage things; a funky organ, kitchen items from the 40’s and 50’s as well as some pop-style light fixtures. This is a good place to check out from time to time, you never know what you might find. A quick stop on the bridge gives a nice view of the Grand River, a lone fisherman has this part of the river to himself.
With art on our minds we drive over to the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum on the campus of Michigan State University. You can’t miss the building; it’s the striking pleated stainless steel and glass building visible from Grand River. Designed by architect Zaha Hadid, her buildings are getting a lot of attention since her death in 2016. The Iraqui-British architect was the first woman to receive the Pritzker Prize, she was the first and only woman to be awarded the Royal Gold Medal from the Royal Institute of British Architects and she was sometimes called the “Queen of the Curve”. I googled her to see her other buildings before I wrote this, she certainly had a way with geometry, I think her buildings are spectacular! The Broad is a parallelogram-shaped building with a distinct lean, the structure continually changes color depending on the time of day and the angle of the sun. We enter through the west entrance into the Passage Gallery, looking around I am surrounded by curly fries, Kris corrects me, spaghetti, he says. The exhibit is called Toiletpaper Paradise, based on the magazine TOILETPAPER. “Domestic settings are re-imagined as psychedelic, subversive montages vignettes”, I’d say that sums it up. It’s pretty groovy, large pieces hang on the walls, rugs are scattered on the floor; the familiar in an unfamiliar way.
Around the corner is a big silver tent, a docent leads us inside, a series of red light bulbs illuminate the space, a pulsing rhythm emits from speakers, live crickets chirp in their own rhythm. The docent demonstrates how the crickets will change their chirps as she alters the sound coming from the speakers. We amble through galleries, the next exhibit is The Transported Man, here ordinary objects become not-so-ordinary when you read the additional information about them. A mysterious floating table, a bar of liposuction soap, I like the elephant’s trick, looks like the cat had too much helium…a festival of the odd. We see a wall of windows, each a different color, notable artwork hangs on a cranberry-colored wall. As much as we like contemporary art, the building itself is the main attraction for us. The staircase seems to float, every hallway leads to something unexpected, it’s like an extremely sophisticated fun house.
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