Bizarre Bazaar

2010, by JMW

The picture (middle right) shows how in 2010 B&Q instructed the buyer of this £9.99 sale price storage unit to put together the 5-shelf contraption. 

The illustration (right) displays the entirely different abstract sculpture constructed by John Michael Wade from the storage unit.

In addition to the two slatted shelves, and the angled cross beams. there are curved triangular separate small shelf units (B&Q) and 25p each sale soap dishes (Homebase) mounted on sloping rubber door stoppers (Wilkinson) to provide angled concave mirrors, the upper one tilted down and the lower dish up. The whole work is covered in household gloss paints (Wilkinson) and mounted on remaindered wood lengths on an outside garage wall in London. It was formally unveiled to drinkers and diners at a barbecue on July 24, 2010.

Shortly after its unveiling and to the utter chagrin of the artist, merry barbecue revellers defaced the sculpture by sticking a pair of sunglasses, various hats and caps plus gloves, newspaper and other detritus on it, all the while maintaining that these bits and pieces either enhanced its beauty or took the fancy sculptor down a peg or two...