Even with those experiences I was blown away by the creativity on display. I am naturally drawn toward items styled in a more natural bent and, of course, ones in shades of blue. The hyper-realism of Matthew Eskuche’s Trashglass series gave me pause, what a disposable world we live in.
The display that absolutely mesmerized me was Portal Icosahedron by Anthony James. It is a modern recreation of a mathematical experiment in unity by Plato, “twenty identical triangular facets…an ideal compositional system of perfect symmetry in three dimensions.” Every step I took around the piece offered a completely different view.
Looking down into a seemingly infinite portal I was reminded of the One in a Million scene from Star Wars: A New Hope when Luke Skywalker does the “impossible” and fires the shot that destroys the Death Star. Hey, I grew up with those movies, what can I say, they made an impression.
There will be a new exhibit opening soon and I will definitely return to explore some more!
I view their afternoon arrival with mixed emotions. On the one hand, I enjoy watching these noisy and colorful, medium-sized parrots. On the other, I know my feeders will soon be empty.
Originally from central South America, the birds were brought to Florida for the pet trade. The first ones were noted living outside in St. Petersburg in 1969. They have since established breeding colonies and are now found across the south-central part of the state. Though the 1992 Wild Bird Act prohibits importation of this tropical species (along with many others) its reproductive success means that it will remain one of Florida’s 195 non-native bird species for many years to come.