Four deer sculptures mysteriously appeared last week in a roundabout in La Pine. Then two more showed up. Then someone added googly eyes and a pink flamingo.
By Monday, the herd had shrunk back down to four. Nobody seems to know who started it, or who keeps adjusting the display.
I love when this kind of thing happens. Someone puts a random piece of art into the world. Then other people respond. Not with complaints or cleanup, but by adding to it. A tiny collaboration forms without permission, planning, or even names attached.
The Tribune Tower hallway gallery
The deer reminded me of something that happened where I worked in the Tribune Tower.
On the 14th floor, there was a strange little recessed space on top of a file cabinet in the hallway. One day in 2002, someone placed a toy there. Then another. Then another. Before long it became its own evolving little world.
Sean Michaels of WWF in a triple-threat match with the red M&M and a Playmobil clown.
Then Daffy Duck joined. Maybe as referee.
Now the toys are riding over Sean Michaels
In the background is a yellow sticky note that says, “How to transform into a butterfly”. It’s my handwriting, but I’m not sure what I intended. Maybe that this space is undergoing a transformation from blank office space into collaborative toy arena?
Although I do have to admit, once we got about 20 random toys in there, mixed in with office supplies, it did start to become a big junky.
All the toys decided to ignore Riki Rikishi… why?
Oh.
And finally someone escalated the whole thing by adding a house made from an office paper box.
That’s how these things go.
One deer becomes six deer. A toy on a file cabinet becomes a tiny civilization.
Nobody appoints a curator. Nobody writes a plan. People just see something strange and decide to keep it going.