"More Than Words" The faces of these 'mannequin' heads are so expression-less when your first see them, yet when they are covered with vintage text or music, they take on a persona all their own, really. When I started this piece I was not sure where it was going. The text I used came from a 1926 volume of the 'Book of Knowledge" found in a dumpster. I loved the tissue like texture of the pages of the volume, I loved the way the paper clung to the mannequin head without a fuss. Initially I was only going to use the text from the book on this piece, but in the end the book itself became part of the piece. I was drawn to the wear shown on the volume's hard cover. The gold imprinted lettering seemed to be desperately clinging to it's cloth cover. It seems odd to say, but this piece easily made itself, telling me what it wanted to become. The stainless steel drawer pulls seem to anchor the piece. The lazy-susan component from the bottom of a revolving spice rack was the perfect addition, allowing the head to turn this way and that.. The black beads around her neck came from a broken abacus from my stash and the colorful beaded sash on the side, adds the needed splash of color.
Words can speak volumes, but there are times when words simply aren't enough.
I quote Stephen Hawking:
"For millions of years, mankind lived just like the animals. Then something happened which unleashed the power of our imagination. We learned to talk and we learned to listen. Speech has allowed the communication of ideas, enabling human beings to work together to build the impossible. Mankind's greatest achievements have come about by talking, and its greatest failures by not talking."