Walking Stick Man

If you had 104.3 million dollars…What would you do with it? Would you do something altruistic? Ahh…that’s so nice of you. I would choose another -istic. Materialistic. I’d start by purchasing homes around the world, one on every continent…throw in a Lear jet ...a few baubles and bangles…and then toss a couple of bucks to the kid carrying the UNICEF box.

With 104.3 million dollars…the possibilities are endless.

BUT, there is ONE thing I would NOT do with it. Buy a 9 foot bronze statue of a stick man. That’s just crazy…although, for some reason, it was a sane decision to some anonymous buyer.

Last week the statue entitled “Walking Man,” sculpted by Giacometti, sold at Sotheby’s for 104.3 million dollars…an auction record. I saw the photo of the pricey stick man on the cover of the Wall Street Journal and had to wonder about the buyer’s taste. Maybe the statue is more impressive in person. I hope for the owner’s sake it is. To me, it looks like he got ripped off and deserves a refund.

I do appreciate art, so I do realize it can be costly. I might understand the price, if the art was a Renoir, or a Picasso…at least I’ve heard of those artists. Or even a Van Gogh. He had a cool story with a lot of drama around cutting off his own ear. Ouch.

But Swiss sculptor, Giacometti? What’s his story? His story probably has something to do with Swiss chocolate…or a Swiss watch. Maybe he cut off his wrist watch…with a knife. Sliced right through the leather band. Ooooo.

I can’t imagine his friends are gonna be that impressed by his purchase. The sculpture isn’t even that old. It was sculpted only 50 years ago. Heck, I have friends who would be considered much more of a relic than the “Walking Man.”

Let’s face it…the sculpture looks like lawn art. Like pink flamingo art…only larger than life. Too bad the flamingo artist didn’t gain that kind of respect. He should have made one giant pink flamingo…and not thousands of them. Apparently he didn’t know the value of supply and demand.

I have no artistic ability at all, but coincidentally, my forte happens to be a stick man. I had a lot of practice doodling them during college lectures. And to think my drawings could have been the start of something big.

I also have enormous talent for drawing a Hangman stick man. A stick man with a noose around his neck is way more creative than a “Walking Man”…and waaaaaay more dramatic. I’m just saying.