“Faces of Covidity”
Discarded and beaten dinosaurs
BY GORDON GILDERSLEEVE
Lately, more than ever, I have been roaming and scavenging, finding lots of wild stuff. I have been cutting up appliances, other odd scrap metal I find right out on the road or thrown out behind decrepit buildings or vacant lots. Trash is everywhere. Trash is king. We are slaves to the Trash God.
I feel I should use these materials to salvage not just the metal or wood paint, but to pay respect to a world before us when these things were so highly praised and very valuable. Now they are put out to pasture. Sad. Just like us as people. We revel in youth and do things as bright as we can through life. Yeah, the world is your oyster and we are the rulers of our destiny.
Well, I like to believe that and I like the feeling, but…. At some point we all break down as well, and get old and worn out and throw belts and burn up motors and overheat and go to the junkyard of life —shoot steam and just die on the side of the road.
Life is so precious, and I fear so many of us are so busy planning and waiting to enjoy it that it may sail right past at that last minute to board…
I am often afraid It will be gone in the blink of an eye and we’ll think, wait, what? No, no, wait, hold on, that can’t be right…
There is a certain nostalgic telling nature of these discarded and beaten dinosaurs. They tell a rough story and I have a soft spot in my heart or an affinity to want to fix things or repurpose them or rebuild them or just reuse them for goodness sake.
Truth is we cannot escape them. It seems more appropriate than ever to be resourceful, and see some worth in that which is considered and dealt with as trash.
I want to see all things in a new and better light.
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Lexington sculptor Gordon Gildersleeve was voted by Ace Readers the Best Lexington artist due for national attention in the annual Ace Best of Lexington readers’ poll in 2000. His sculptures and functional art, described by critics as “wildly elegant” and “full of vitality,” are exhibited nationally, installed publicly, and displayed in numerous private collections, including a 2003 acquisition by Churchill Downs.
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This article also appears on page 18 of the April 2021 print edition of ace magazine.
