Representational analysis is required when considering placement and composition of items in the Southern Yard. If the South has anything, it has symbols. Each component of the Southern Yard contains, within its concrete soul, a meaning which is often overlooked by the drive-by observer.
Take, for example, the White Swan, usually exhibited in the form of a planter, and filled –ever so graciously—with either live petunias or plastic begonias, according to the landscaper’s preference and “growing ability.” One thinks to one’s self, upon slamming past the figurine at sixty plus miles per hour, “Ah, a swan.” But it is much more than a mere bird with flowers coming out of its mid-section. The swan symbolizes the beautiful virgin. In early times, the swan represented the Virgin Mary, her purity and grace. Filling the swan’s abdominal cavity with either real or artificial foliage (through an open incision in the spine) could be construed as pannier of virtue, containing the most exquisite of God’s creations…the flower of womanhood. The buds of which contain the heart rendering recollections of blossoming progeny. (Swan photo originally included in essay signifies, through the use of dried and brown foliage inserted in the body cavity, that the maidenhood of the pubescent teenage girl who resides within the trailer has been pierced.)
Let us take another example:
The Pig. Many Southern Yards contain not just a pig, but an entire pig family. Often a sow in suckling position with young placed carefully near the mother. An obvious symbol of good barbecue, these pig figurines denote, in North Carolina, the joy of a “Pig Pickin’” an event enjoyed by both family and friends. The Pig Pickin’ is held as a sacred event, a family tradition. The Pig, long known as the symbol of a Butcher, is a highly debated member of the Southern Community. The meat is highly prized and voraciously consumed. Yet there is a dark side to swine. Those who live downwind of the large corporate farms which are beginning to cover the region are loathe to include entire pig families within their yard art framework. Those who do include the concrete pig are often ostracized by neighbors and misunderstood by their friends. What they really want to say is, “Howdy. I have a pig cooker and I’m proud to chop.”
The Wheel is another popular yard art item. Symbolic in modern times because it suggests motion, inferring change, vicissitudes and fortune, the Wheel symbol is usually incorporated within the yard in the form of an automobile tire. Often whitewashed, the tire takes on an added significance when used as either a barrier or a planter. One can interpret the display in many ways. The Wheel can say to the drive-by observer “Keep moving” or, depending on the placement with regard to other yard art components, it can signify Fortune. Fortune is often personified as a goddess who is reconigized by her emblem, the Wheel. Since the goddess is sometimes represented as blind, one can infer the intent of the Landscaper – he/she is an obvious Star Trek fan and will blindly (rather than boldly) go where no man has gone before.
Problems of interpretation arise when concrete figures are presented in non-traditional formats. Through careful study, we have ascertained that many of these “arrangements” come from another revered social tradition in the South—the utilization of diverse fragmented objects to create a “new complete.” The “new complete” is most often witnessed within the pedestal display.
Often, the Southern Landscaper receives or purchases a concrete bird bath which rests upon a pedestal. The most popular pedestal designs are either the three seahorses, back to back, or the common Greek column design. Many choose to “gild the lily” by placing a family of robins in the bowl. But, sadly, over time, the bird bath bowl becomes either too chipped or cracked to hold water and the owner replaces the bowl with a figurine. The robin family becomes part of the “on the ground” placement motif. The landscaper replaces the entire bowl/robin-family contingent with a completely different concrete figurine.
While it may appear to the drive-by observer to be a randomly placed concrete figure, the objects placed upon the pedestal contain a symbolic significance beyond the common “on the grass” placement of concrete figurines. By placing a concrete figure upon a pedestal, the Southern Yard Art landscaper creates an entirely new symbolic display. We can see in the illustration, a squirrel which has been placed upon a pedestal. Such replacements can creates confusion for the drive-by observer due to the expectation of a “bird bath bowl.”
Oftentimes, the bowl is replaced with a whimsical character such as a gnome or gargoyle. These displays signify a new attitude which we call “Millennial.” Or--the new generation of concrete art. This is a break from tradition, so to speak, which creates a nuance representational of the next century, the new millennium of yard art. The Southern landscaper seeks to replace the concrete chicken of the fifties with the icons of the next century. The “Spring Refurbishing Tradition” in which families gather to paint the cement chickens each April, is forgotten and the chickens are replaced with “new” and “better” concrete figurines which serve to represent the coming of the new century. The chicken is relegated to the“on the ground” status and placed in an insignificant yard position.
The reader should note:
Interviews with Southern Yard Art connoisseurs reveal a reluctance to admit the symbolic significance of placement. Whether it is candor on their part, or the inability to express their inner feelings, we shall never know.
--Valerie MacEwan
from macewan.net