yeah. pretty proud. (LOVE park photos by adrian seward.)
we celebrated with friends and of course drew quite a few looks and doubletakes -- but only one inquisitive person came forward and asked. "that's neat. who is it?" "edmund bacon." "who's he?" "he was a city planner. he designed this park." "what happened to his eye?" "he didn't always have one."
the gentleman then suggested we place the scupture in the center of the fountain -- which, even though the fountain was not functioning, seemed a bad idea. the man offered to climb into the fountain with the sculpture himself. we declined the offer.
here's the headlight-beamingly-happy artiste (photo by ben.) note the hat -- also made of the same adopt-a-sheep fleece as ed himself is made!
then, along with kathy and lou, we were then off to brunch at continental two, where i had lobster mac and cheese. life is good!
UPDATE: there are so many good links about mr. bacon on the web, i thought it wise to share a few more. this one, from WHYY's "hometown legends" series, cracks me up -- look at the picture! that's not a photo i used while making the bust, believe it or not -- and that shade of blue shirt has become so ubiquitous that i just assumed he'd have had one -- it seems he actually did!
and, of course, having worked for and in the academy of music, this quote kills me: "We were so middle class that in the Academy of Music... my family always went to the family circle. And they thought if you went up to the Ampitheater, where I go now because I can't afford the family circle, that it would be very dangerous cause that's where the ruffians were and they thought that everybody below them in the balcony and the parquet and the boxes were the stuck up rich."
here's another about bacon's LOVE park anti-skateboard protest. here too is the city paper piece covering bacon's disobedient shredding. "'I want to ride a skateboard across LOVE Park and get arrested,' says Bacon, who, though he is 92 and has only one eye, exudes the rakish aura of a Little Rascal. 'I want to protest what the mayor has done to LOVE Park. And I want you to cover it.'"
love that man.