"Unable to read or write, he taught himself to form these sculptures using wooden structures at their core wrapped in mink or barbed wire, covered in layers of cement..."
I want to understand how in the world did this man come to the decision process of using either mink or barbed wire? Seems like concrete must adhere to them both quite well?
recury · 2h ago
It’s aluminum/zinc wire or wire mesh from the Illinois Mink Wire company. Not made of minks.
oregano · 1h ago
Thank you! I wonder how many people read this and have the correct context.
I have never heard of the Wisonsin Northwoods until now, but I think I now know where I will want to live if I ever secure a remote position again.
That place is beautiful...
UltraSane · 2h ago
It is very pretty but it it gets VERY cold in the winter!
devkit1 · 1h ago
So very much so. I lived my teenage years in the northwoods of Wisconsin. I absolutely loved it but it is not for everyone. It is beautiful, and there is so much to do if you are an outdoorsy person. But you need to be prepared for below zero Fahrenheit temperatures every year. Sometimes it can be for weeks straight, at some points reaching as cold as -20F, -30F or colder. I used to joke that it wasn’t cold until you feel your nose hairs freeze together when you inhale.
Also, unfortunately in recent years the deer tick and Lyme disease prevalence have greatly increased, though vigilant checking and washing are very effective at mitigating that risk.
Another fond memory I have from there is that the view of the stars and the auroras are an incredible sight to behold. The light pollution is near zero.
calrain · 2h ago
What a wonderful legacy.
I'm using this as a reminder to continue to purge the useless and focus on things that matter.
bhaney · 1h ago
The danger with this is that you might change your mind about what matters later in life, only to find that you've long since "purged" it.
RyanOD · 2h ago
I second this sentiment. Life is just too short for the useless...though sometimes that's hard to remember / know.
all2 · 1h ago
I had a thought in the same vein while I was driving home; would I miss youtube if I never watched it again?
There are creators on there that I thoroughly enjoy.
Dunno.
robertclaus · 1h ago
It's always exciting to see my state come up in a quirky but warm story like this!
seemaze · 3h ago
I always forget how terrible the modern ad supported web is until I travel without a dns ad blocker..
fasthands9 · 3h ago
This is my favorite type of art.
FridayoLeary · 3h ago
He's a lumberjack and he's okay... (sorry, i couldn't hold myself back)
Uninen · 3h ago
Off-topic but this is one of my pet peeves of the modern web; some of the images on the page are ridiculously gigantic. We've had awesome publishing software for two decades with the very basic feature of optimizing published images but somehow nowadays it's totally acceptable to publish an article with several 10+ Mb images.
I want to understand how in the world did this man come to the decision process of using either mink or barbed wire? Seems like concrete must adhere to them both quite well?
That place is beautiful...
Another fond memory I have from there is that the view of the stars and the auroras are an incredible sight to behold. The light pollution is near zero.
I'm using this as a reminder to continue to purge the useless and focus on things that matter.
There are creators on there that I thoroughly enjoy.
Dunno.