Memphis Heavyweights

Last Saturday the Art Museum at the University of Memphis hosted Memphis Heavyweights, a collaborative project between artist Nick Cave and several local groups. It was an amazing spectacle, and I had a great time sketching it. I think they should do this every weekend.




















This group was being led by someone in a crazy costume with a mask that looked like a giant tin can. The group was carrying a river of fabric on poles.






















The little kids dressed like trees and dancing were super cute. It's difficult enough to draw people when they are not dancing, so I tried sketching this guy playing 5-gallon plastic buckets like drums, but the crowd crowded in around him and I had to move on.






















Giant metal cornucopia being carried by more people in crazy costumes.






















Another angle of the cornucopia. They also had people with them who were dancing and they were fantastic, but impossible to draw.






















Up top are Aztec dancers in these lightweight structures that they were inside of. On the bottom are the folks from the Natural Learning school. They had these huge puppet-like structures covered in cloth, with some crocheted leaves hanging off of them, made by yours truly.






















There was a float/car with an environmental message. I'm thinking bikes might have gotten that message across a little better. They also had handouts that ended up littering the sidewalks.

On the right is local sculptor Eli Gold inside of a giant metal costume. I was sketching him as I walked backwards alongside him.






















These folks were awesome: Danza Azteca Quetzalcoatl. They were the same ones marching inside the lightweight structures. I was actually leaving after the parade and was drawn back by the sound of their drums. The dancing was amazing!