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Superheroes of sculpture

HL tape sculpture KA 9-19-11
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You’ve go to have art, and it doesn’t matter what it’s made of.

Three people calling themselves The Sculpture Goons have been creating life-sized sculpture from translucent packing tape and leaving them in places they love – near the Bookworm of Edwards, on the bridge connecting The Reserve to The Riverwalk and Freedom Park – all because they want to.

Their true identities are a secret, which might make them something like The Super Heroes of Sculpture. Except unlike regular super heroes, they’re having lots and lots of fun.



We asked them a bunch of questions via the Sculpture Goons Facebook page.

Vail Daily: Why are you doing this?

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Sculpture Goons: We’re doing this for a variety of reasons. For one, it’s simply a very fun, very interesting way to spend our time. It’s also a way of making statements and expressing ourselves in a public forum. But perhaps most of all, we feel like every time we put up a sculpture, we’re giving a small gift to the community. And that is a wonderful feeling. We’re hoping to keep on a pretty tight one sculpture a week schedule, but alas, Murphy and his law are always at work, so we can’t make any promises.

VD: How did you think of this?

SG: The idea kind of crept up on us. A couple of us had been discussing collaborating on some form of public art for a little while. Then one of us said something along the lines of “What about 3-D graffiti? Not like 3-D effect, but actually three dimensional?” This did two things: gave us a somewhat novel concept, and gave us a way to put up street art that wasn’t destructive. It was perfect.

VD: Why create sculpture with packing tape?

SG: Tape was simply a medium that we stumbled upon. We don’t really have the resources or time to do more traditional mediums such as bronze or clay, so we settled on a cheap, easy to work with medium that is simple to install and is also really cool. Using tape allowed us to make a sculpture that was nearly see-through, which was perfect for the effect we wanted out of the 9/11 sculpture, and one that could be suspended several meters in the air. However, we aren’t limiting ourselves to just the one media. We’re looking to branch out a little in the coming weeks, so keep your eyes open.

VD: Tell us about the sculpture that was floating over the Bookworm a few weeks back.

SG: The floating sculpture, “Balloon Man,” was the idea of one of the Goons before we even started making sculptures. It floated, quite frankly, because we thought it would be really fun to make a sculpture float. Not to mention that we love the guys over at the Bookworm, and we thought a floating sculpture outside their store would make a great little display of affection.

VD: What was the 9/11 sculpture about?

SG: In regards to the 9/11 sculpture “The Pledge”: We feel that as Americans and as human beings, it is near impossible to remember the events of 9/11/01 without feeling some obligation to honor those lost as a result; civilians, police men and women, and firefighters who lost their lives during or as a direct result of the attacks, and our military servicemen and women who’ve lost their lives overseas. The sculpture was just our attempt to honor them in some small way. It’s not enough, but it’s something.

VD: How many Goons are there?

SG: There are currently three Goons wandering the Valley. In the future, we may have more members, or not. We’re not entirely sure where we’re going with this, but we’re having a really fun time finding out.

Staff Writer Randy Wyrick can be reached at 970-748-2935 or rwyrick@vaildaily.com.


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