No comments on Tromanhood – Celia Xié
Category: Beautiful
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We went to Golden Belt Arts yesterday. Chuck has a piece in a group exhibition there and I wanted to see it. I may not be home to see it on Third Friday. So, we had a more quiet viewing. When we walked in, I was delighted to see that Perrin Marie has a show going on in the main hallway.
We met her a few years ago and she is absolutely delightful. She’s one of those artists who always sees the world through the lens of her art. Everything that she encounters is a potential component. Perhaps because of that, she, also, sees the world very clearly.
The exhibition at Golden Belt is called Hoopla and the website is hoopla.love.
From the website – about the 197 terms
Alice Walker – She took up space the stories do – passed hand to hand, kept alive by those who needed them most. 
Greta Thunberg – She took up space the way urgency does – clear, relentless, refusing silence 
Madonna – She took up space the way a flower does – without permission, without apology. 
Sarah Mardini – She took up space the way endurance does – quietly practiced, meant to be shared.
Oprah Winfrey – She took up space the way influence does – quietly gathered, felt forever. 
Frida Kahlo – She took up space the way a gaze does – steady, intentional, meeting the world head-on. 
Angela Davis – She took up space the way a foundation does – unseen by some, holding everything. 
Kristal Ambrose – She took up space the way the tide does – patient, undeniable, reshaping the shore. 
Christabell Pankhurst – She took up space the way a calling does – precise, unmistakable, answered whether invited or not. -
I just realized I have never shown you this.
Sometime in 2019 or ’20, I saw a picture of a piece of public art in Charlotte that intrigued me. I mentioned it to a friend and she said “Oh yeah. It’s outside the community services building.” Which was kind of vague. But, I found it.
The Pillars of Dreams, created by Mark Fornes and his creative studio, theverymany is, indeed in front, of the Valerie C. Woodard Community Resource Center on Freedom Drive
I almost missed it as I drove by because it’s across a fairly large parking lot and very similar in color to the building itself.
It is wonderful in every sense of the word.
The day I was there was balmy with a light breeze and I had the space to myself. The piece isn’t part of a larger exhibition or noted any particular way. It’s just there, being lovely.
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I hope this doesn’t sound like damning with faint praise. It was delightful. But, I would not have made a special trip with a hotel stay to see it. The trolls are great. But, I would need to go for other stuff, too. The Arboretum is worth seeing and so is generally hanging out in Asheville, imho. We did talk to a couple who are “troll collecting.” They saw their first in Wisconsin.
There were signs near some of the trolls giving directions that encouraged engagement with the exhibition. Not all, but some.
They have QR codes for labels. But, I neglected to take pictures of all of them. Frankly, I didn’t notice them until I was 3 or 4 trolls along.
This first troll you see is Wilde. It’s by the entrance into the Visitor Center. I wasn’t sure I was going to get a picture of it without a human blocking it because so many were crowding around getting their own photos.
Wilde 
Taks The highlights in his eyes are screws. And I was amused by how the toenails are inverted. Those were features of all of the trolls.
Valle 
Bignut 
Lilnut 
Boge I absolutely could not get a picture of Boge without someone in his hands. The crowd around him was large and close in as everyone waited to take their turn to be held by a troll.
Kirse 
Poppy Nearby, there was a little story about Poppy collecting the detritus of humans kind of like little kids collect rocks.
Hasse Hasse is pretty sassy and I love his hair.
Birch 
Anja People had a lot of fun trying to build cairns on her hands with the stones in her buckets.
And I missed Larke. We were so focused on going down the hill to see Anja, we didn’t look to our right to spot her. If I get back over there to see them with my cousin, I’ll add her to the post.
I am the Audience 