Author: Timothy Corrigan Correll Publisher: Univ. Press of Mississippi ISBN: 9781578062997 Category : Art Languages : en Pages : 132
Book Description
How creations welded from the scrapheap have become a folk art rage "Muffler men are the cigar-store Indians of the late 20th century, trade figures made to stand in front of shops to advertise what is sold inside. Both are considered forms of folk art, but the skinny metal figures with shimmering muffler heads and torsos and pipe-thin legs found outside auto repair shops are wittier, more imaginative and flamboyantly painted. . . ." -Rita Reif, The New York Times Art can appear in the most unexpected places. Muffler men, for example, have become one of the most striking and remarkable of recent folk art creations. From Walla Walla to Daytona quirky mannikins constructed from discarded automobile mufflers are popping up across America. Cobbled together as business signposts, these comical sculptures are sprouting outside automotive repair shops everywhere. Car debris harmonizes with human anatomy as rusty cast-offs assume a new identity as savvy objets d'art. Signage turns into art as mechanics fashion cowboys, dogs, robots, space aliens, and a host of other creatures from metal scraps of the profession and with the aid of their workaday tools and acetylene. If for only a passing moment, the muffler men enliven the roadside and help to break up the monotony of daily commutes. More than mere advertisements, they interact with their communities by greeting the passerby. The significance of muffler sculptures turns profound when they become local celebrities and are hailed as community landmarks. But what do they mean? For the creative mechanic who made them they are exclamatory signposts and store mascots. For the academic folklorists who analyze them they are symbolic icons with cultural meanings that proclaim individual identity and group membership. For the collectors who treasure them they are exemplars of "outsider art." For most nonspecialists who wave as they speed past they are funky delights. This colorful book documents the widespread appeal of muffler men as a form of occupational art that enriches the workplace, the local environment, and now the art gallery. Timothy Corrigan Correll is a folklorist whose research focuses on material behavior and folk belief. Patrick Arthur Polk serves as the museum scientist and archivist for the UCLA Folklore and Mythology Archives.
Author: Shing Yin Khor Publisher: Zest Books ISBN: 1942186371 Category : Young Adult Nonfiction Languages : en Pages : 164
Book Description
As a child growing up in Malaysia, Shing Yin Khor had two very different ideas of what “America” meant. The first looked a lot like Hollywood, full of beautiful people and sunlight and freeways. The second looked more like The Grapes of Wrath - a nightmare landscape filled with impoverished people, broken-down cars, barren landscapes, and broken dreams. Those contrasting ideas have stuck with Shing ever since, even now that she lives and works in LA. The American Dream? A Journey on Route 66 is Shing’s attempt to find what she can of both of these Americas on a solo journey (small adventure-dog included) across the entire expanse of that iconic road, beginning in Santa Monica and ending up Chicago. And what begins as a road trip ends up as something more like a pilgrimage in search of an American landscape that seems forever shifting, forever out of place.
Author: Tito Campos Publisher: Arte Publico Press ISBN: 1558853189 Category : Juvenile Fiction Languages : en Pages : 34
Book Description
Chuy works hard at the muffler shop to earn enough money to join his father in America, where together they create an army of "muffler men," statues made from old muffler parts, that they scatter around the city.
Author: Shing Yin Khor Publisher: Zest Books ™ ISBN: 1541578627 Category : Young Adult Nonfiction Languages : en Pages : 163
Book Description
As a child growing up in Malaysia, Shing Yin Khor had two very different ideas of what "America" meant. The first looked a lot like Hollywood, full of beautiful people, sunlight, and freeways. The second looked more like The Grapes of Wrath—a nightmare landscape filled with impoverished people, broken-down cars, barren landscapes, and broken dreams. Follow along on Shing's solo journey (small adventure-dog included) along the iconic Route 66, beginning in Santa Monica and ending up Chicago. What begins as a road trip ends up as something more like a pilgrimage in search of an American landscape that seems forever shifting and forever out of place. “Just like Shing in real life, The American Dream? is quirky, honest, captivating, and filled with recollections of weird roadside statues.”—Carol L. Tilley, comics historian and information science professor “Shing Yin Khor’s debut graphic memoir The American Dream? is the critical antidote to the whitewashed narratives of the great American road trip.” —Kristina Wong, performance artist and activist “A lovely, deceptively simple road trip memoir that revels in quirky discovery and quiet adventure while grappling with the anger and longing of one immigrant’s experience.” —Greg Pak, comic book writer "Khor takes that 'feeling of desperately searching for something better, for a new start,' and adapts it to their own 'pilgrimage' as immigrant and artist traveling historic Route 66 . . . in whimsical full-color detail."—starred, Booklist "This is a book that will make you want to pack a bag, jump in your car and travel across America."—Geek Mom A Forbes Best Graphic Novel of 2019
Author: Jerome Pohlen Publisher: Chicago Review Press ISBN: 1613740352 Category : Travel Languages : en Pages : 338
Book Description
In this updated edition, it's plain to see that the state of Illinois has only gotten weirder. Where there was once just a single Popeye statue in downstate Chester, today the town has monuments to Olive Oyl, Swee' Pea, Bluto, the Sea Hag, and more. The creepy Piasa Bird petroglyph on the bluff in Alton now has a roadside pullout with picnic tables, and the two-story outhouse in Gays has a new contemplative garden. With almost twice as many destinations as its predecessor, this edition boasts detailed information on each site—address, phone number, website, hours, entry fees, and driving directions—as well as maps, photos, and a wealth of regional history in the descriptions. Some new sites include Henry's Rabbit Ranch, the World's First Jungle Gym, Ahlgrim Acres (a miniature golf course at a funeral home), the Leather Archives and Museum, General Santa Ana's two wooden legs, the World's Largest Sock Monkey, the Friendship Shoe Fence, a truck stop with a marionette show, and a coin-operated fire-breathing dragon. There is more between Chicago and St. Louis than cornfields and plenty of fascinating places in the Windy City that aren't on Michigan Avenue, and here is a chance to see these underappreciated sites throughout the state.
Author: Brian Butko Publisher: Stackpole Books ISBN: 0811745481 Category : Travel Languages : en Pages : 100
Book Description
From Lucy, the colossal elephant-shaped building on the Jersey Shore, to the grand donut atop Randy's in Los Angeles, this full-color guide profiles the commercial giants that loom over America's highways. Created to sell products and promote tourism in a big way, they can be found all over the United States. The authors have traveled far and wide to bring readers the world's largest duck in Long Island, an enormous Amish couple in Pennsylvania Dutch Country, and towering Paul Bunyans all over the Midwest. There are buildings shaped like hot dogs, ice cream cones, and baskets, as well as the roadside phenomena known as "Muffler Men," giants who originally advertised mufflers but now have been converted to cowboys, Indians, spacemen, and pirates. Big fun!
Author: Timothy Corrigan Correll
Author: Shing Yin Khor
Author: Tito Campos
Author: Gabriel Aldaz
Author: M. O. Blackmore
Author: Shing Yin Khor![Men's wear. [semi-monthly] PDF](https://books.google.com/books/content/images/frontcover/hC1RAAAAYAAJ?fife=w80-h100)
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Author: Jerome Pohlen
Author: Brian Butko