Wednesday, September 2, 2009

#5 Highlight of Trip to Portland

The Portland City tour of Matt Cartwright’s Whimsy and Function


As I mentioned before my Brother-in-law is an artist who rescues unwanted objects from wasting away their retirement years in the wasteland of the municipal landfill, and resurrects them into amazing and whimsical pieces of functional art. I also stated before Portland is a biker’s paradise; the type of biker that might require a secure object to attach his transportation vehicle to when it is not in use. Portland’s city streets are lined with utilitarian bike racks, most of the unmemorable type. But there is a growing trend for businesses to declare their personality through the type of hitching post they provide for their cycling clientele. Matt has a passionate interest in furthering the bicycling community of his city, both as a participant, and purveyor of utilitarian and aesthetically amusing paraphernalia to facilitate the cities mania. Not only are many of my favorite sculptures of his bicycle related, but most of the raw materials at use in them are the skeletons of former Schwinns and the like.


Mama bike waiting to suckle her young

Giant toothbrushes tied together with floss in front of a dentist's office

Yoga man bike rack

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