Sunday, March 15, 2009

The Project Begins

i work on the 7th floor of an office building on the south side of an unremarkable block in the flatiron neighborhood of nyc. sometime last week i noticed a 46" tall bozo the clown punching bag - or as i've since come to know, it's called a "bozo bop bag - in the window of an office on the 8th floor of a building on the north side of the block.



i asked my co-workers if they'd seen it and matt told me it had been there for a while. maybe "a month or so." how could that be? how could i have never noticed this? it looked so insane and frankly, i was jealous. it seemed like something i would have done. so being as self-centered as i am, i took it as a personal affront.

i told matt that i was going to order one online and put it in our window.

we decided that we would start a blog and try to figure out how to get others on the block (and perhaps beyond, hint, hint) to display their bozos. we would create this pretentious piece of public art that would be so stupid it couldn't be considered pretentious. so matt takes some great pictures, gets the blog up and running (he's all like that and shit) and we're good-to-go.

on thursday 3/12, our bozo, now known as "bozo #2" was ready for his debut.



we put him in the window and remarked how ridiculous this was/is/will be. i wondered what our neighbors would think when/if they saw bozo #2. how long would it take them? would they love it? we both suspected they would appreciate it. we were right.

but something unexpected happened. once both bozos #1 & #2 were set up, the image was strangely poignant, striking and sad. when you looked at them, they appeared to be desperately longing for each other. two tragic lovers destined to never connect. and it wasn't just me. matt thought the same thing. suddenly we were the architects of gut wrenching disappointment and unrequited love.



but not for long.

within 2hrs or so, i noticed a message on bozo #1! CONTACT! we were freaking out. the bait had been taken. the only problem was, we couldn't read the message. it was a handmade sign that we struggled to figure out. after several rounds of possibilities brian (other co-worker) proclaimed "hey, beefcake." nice!



mission accomplished.

we were satisfied. our neighbors did their job. their civic duty. they answered the cal l.

and then bozo #1 got pissed. like seriously pissed. bozo #1 turned his back on bozo #2. literally. bozo #1 was now turned around and no longer faced the love of his life. clearly the neighbors were not happy with our failure to respond. but we already had something in the works. they just needed to sit tight. they need to trust us! these things can't be rushed.

plus, our bozo isn't ready for love right now. he's got some self esteem things going on. sadly, alex (other co-worker) discovered today when bozo #1 wasn't as erect as usual, that he has a verrrrry slow leak. and not only that, he's a USED BOZO. there's evidence to support that he's already been patched up. the tell tale blob of glue cannot be denied. our bozo arrived with a broken heart.

just before leaving the office tonight for the weekend we put a sign on bozo #1 that said "stay tuned..."

we have already ordered 4 more bozos online. we will put an additional bozo a day at a time in our windows next week. the army is coming. the revolution is coming.

stay tuned...


5 comments:

  1. I am scared and titillated by these developments.

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  2. this will only end in tears.

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  3. This is one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard of.

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  4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDt31F0QBGY&feature=related

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  5. Hilarious....I was in NYC at the time of these "incidents"...sorry I missed the drama.

    Keep us informed. Please.

    I write romance novels and I've got to say, I love this. The drama! The conflict! The yearning!

    sigh,

    Bonnie Edwards

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