Man Land

Today, I accompanied a friend of mine down to the Navy Yards where the piece he had produced for the headquarters of a corporation was crated and ready to be shipped. I will laugh if any one ever says art is effete to me again.

This is a work of nail art, by which I mean different sized nails produce the outlines and shadows of the design. The picture offers an example of the work done by Tim Kent. The piece being crated off today was a bit larger, and if the frame weighed 200lbs, 80lbs of nails were hammered painstakingly (literally, all involved were aching and sore from tapping/slamming that many nails into the wood), and the crate added another 75lbs, then the packaged piece was nearing 400lbs.

Several men were involved at every step. There was one woman, whom I did not get to meet, but I understand that her handshake was brutal. The piece got loaded by several strong men, nonetheless using dollies, and wearing the type of rugged clothing that resists tears.

I stood to the side and held jackets and papers, thus making myself useful too. But under no uncertain terms, this was man land and these men were proud of the brute force that created and crated another work of art.