Tom Huck (American, born 1971)

Tom Huck (American, born 1971). .

Buzzer, 2014 , Dottie, 2014 , Whisker the Warm Werm, 2014 , mixed media , dimensions variable , Laumeier Sculpture Park Commission with funds from Nancy and Ken Kranzburg, Mid-America Arts Alliance, Ellen and Durb Curlee and L.E. Sauer Machine Co.

, Local artist Tom Huck has designed two bug-like playground "springers," Buzzer and Dottie, and a climbing apparatus titled Whisker the War Werm, based on a series of his original woodcut designs inspired by the many insects inhabiting the microenvironment of the Park. Huck's first public artwork, these monumental insects illustrate how both nature and art, when experienced together and with a sprinkle of mischief, can inspire creativity and amusement in both children and adults., A giant creepy crawler like Whisker the War Werm, 2014, would be incredibly mobile and able to carry heavy loads without breaking a sweat. A scarab beetle can roll the equivalent of 20 times its own weight in nutrient-rich dung without catching its breath (the humble scarab beetle also beat mankind to the wheel by millions of years). That's like a child picking up a Chevy truck! Dottie's death's head design is reminiscent of the costumes worn by the Black Metal group Gwar, complete with fangs, mandibles and horns. In each work, the effect is a blend of the horrific and the slightly comic. Combined with the more biologically correct body designs, each sculpture is part fantasy, part science., Fabricated by St. Louis Fabrication Arts (a division of L.E. Sauer Machine Co.)