The good people of Sainte Maure de Touraine are clearly obsessed with goats. Sainte Maure is the centre of the goat cheese producing world so I suppose there is good reason. One way this obsession manifests itself is in the creation and public display of giant goat sculptures.
The first one I encountered was some years ago. It is papier maché and brought out every year for the June cheese festival in the town. It is somewhat animatronic, with teats that squirt 'milk'. I found it slightly disturbing and a bit creepy, but I'm sure one gets used to it.
Then in September I was shown a resin model at the community centre of a proposed statue for the 'heights' overlooking the autoroute exit/entry at Sainte Maure. The artist proposing it is well known for his monumental landmark sculptures. In general I'm not a fan of his work but this project might work quite well.
And the other day I was on my way to something completely different with friends Christian and Jean-Paul. Christian was driving and we were on a backroad out of town when he pulled over. So I could see a giant sculpture of a goat made from bark that was under construction in a barn! It turns out that our companion J-P was responsible for this masterpiece. It's very clever, and I particularly like the hessian sack udder. I didn't quite catch what it was for though.
2 comments:
I love the expression that your friend J-P has managed to get on the head of that sculpture... very lifelike! And possibly a little sad!?
Tim: Yes, I agree.
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