2006-02-18
coconut grove art fair
At the Coconut Grove Art Fair, overly-bronzed women in high heels and straw hats clomp around the sidewalk, looking at watercolor portraits of palm trees. They buy commemorative posters, rolled up like paper towels, the type you'd find in a dentist's office.
A fat woman perches on the curb with an iguana, yelling, "Save the animals!" She collects rumpled dollars in her sweaty fist. For what? I couldn't imagine. Mama, my aunt, and I hit the stands in search of blown glass. I end up buying a bunch of swizzle sticks carved like whales and lobsters.
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The moist air is thick with fried food---the usual salty fair grub, from elephant ears to funnel cake. My aunt wants conch fritters. I settle on a free bottle of Vitamin Water, like the dozens stacked on a garbage can about to overflow.
The art seems to have more in common with craft. I checked out a booth from The Artist of the Andes. He carves skeletons in guitar-shaped frames, using a tool as small as a toothpick.
A girl in braids stopped and stared at these overgrown Egg Men and said, "This would give me nightmares."
Joan of Art
The mermaids sang in silence.
Kimber
Cathy Rose
Pirate heads carved from coconuts.
I looked up and caught sight of two fat, shirtless men, leaning over a hotel balcony.
A giant metal rooster blocked the exit. I watched a crew of skateboarders hop around the metallic zoo, flicking ash at the ground. Toddlers posed for pictures, squinting into the diamond bright sun.
The last thing I saw was an airboat, parked on dry land. I wanted to hop aboard and rumble away from the crowd. They would only see its fan-shaped motor, their hair blowing in my breeze as I soared above the bay.
f-i-n at 5:50 p.m.