Sunday, August 4, 2013

Porter Sculpture Park

Once you're on Interstate 90, head west through the Great Plains section of South Dakota until you see the head of a giant bull rising from the prairie.  Get off the highway at the exit and follow the signs down a dirt road, past a herd of real cows, and you'll be at Porter Sculpture Park.  Pay the small admission fee and have a look at a strange collection of welded work by South Dakota native Wayne Porter.

The centerpiece is this enormous bull head, guarded by sheep-skulled skeleton soldiers, and tended by faceless monks, all welded from scrap steel:










There is a small amount of political commentary, with the occasional misspelling:




And everyday animals, fantastical animals, and mundane objects writ large:








What do these sculptures mean?  The answers are as elusive as the wind that howls through their empty eye sockets.

No comments: