Snow Daze: Radical Ice Sculpture in Grant Park

by Erik Wennermark

Snoprah

Ever wanted to see Oprah’s bountiful cleavage crafted out of ice? Me neither. But those button-bursting ice boobs are exactly what I did see exploring the Snow Days Chicago ice sculpture competition held January 29-31 in Grant Park. “Snoprah” conceived and created by the Starvin’ Carvists of Eau Claire, Wisconsin was just one of many entrants in the illustrious competition pitting teams from around the world in a raucous ice carving event.

It should be said that my experience of ice carving is limited exclusively to my former as a hotel banquet server at the Adams Mark Hotel in downtown Denver, Colorado; I often found myself arranging crudités around shimmering ice swans, ice geese, and ice ducks. Well maybe not so many ducks and geese, but certainly swans. Why always swans? Does the swan lend itself to ice carving more than other birds? Probably yes, its graceful curves designed to carry the majestic animal over water, it would make sense that this would carry over into water frozen. The careful counterpoint of tension and fluidity. Ice and fire. The constrained molecules bursting like lean swan sinew. But I digress. There were no swans to be had on this day.

Night Life (Lantern)

There was, however, an octopus, warlock, rocker dude, Native American chief, Oscar the Grouch, elephant, and brood of turtles—the aviary consisting of a glorious bald eagle (these colors don’t melt!) and a pair of crowing cocks. Stripped of their dessert plates and cheese plates and broccoli, zucchini, and carrot plates, the sculptures stood glorious and true. Taken from the Romeoville Kiwanis Club 3rd Annual Awards Dinner (6 o’ clock in the Roosevelt Room), the statues shone and glinted in the sun, high above and winking, too entered into the competition like every mortal’s promise of death, an omnipresent threat.

I kid. In truth there was no sun. The sky was grey and I was freezing. My friend who accompanied me was ill-clothed and wanting to be indoors or, at the very least the Snows Days warming tent, a cacophony of noise and smells (chirping children riding a tide of chorine and sweat) and complimentary Mountain Dew Ruby Red. Sincerely now: is there a more ephemeral art form than ice sculpture? A more Sisyphean task than spending days a building a ten-foot tall lantern festooned with creepy crawlies to only watch it be dissolved and destroyed by the cruel vicissitude of nature’s wrath? I kid again. But it’s a thought, and this is an art blog after all, why not include some art words and art talk?

Chinese Opera

The sculptures were very impressive, no doubt required a great deal of skill to create, and will undoubtedly be gone soon, aside from these and other words and pictures. The most impressive being the aforementioned lantern, “Night Life (Lantern)” by The Sons of Yukon Cornelius of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, a creation whose delicacy was only matched by its peculiarity (and undeniable anti-swan-ness), my vote for the Snow Days People’s Choice Award and eventual silver medal winner; and the first place winner (rightfully so) and People’s Choice Champion “Chinese Opera” by the China Harbin Refining Ice Snow Sculpture Team of Harbin,

Chillen’ Chicago Style

China. The most faraway entrant and a team I imagine training in a state-sponsored Mongolian facility, endlessly drilled to the soundtrack of Little Red Book quotations and threats of thrashings. A row of bunk beds, the shrill 4 AM siren announcing another day hacking blocks of snow; breakfast, lunch, and dinner of watery congee, before being brought to Chicago to show those American pigs what for.

Despite the pros clearly superior skill-set—the ice-carving gap is growing!—my favorite works were those involved in the secondary high-school carving competition. Particularly “Chillen’ Chicago Style” by Lakeview High School, whose obese Bears-jersey clad man sat in his easy chair wearing a pair of bunny slippers—a more than fitting decorative addition to any Super Bowl party table of nachos, guacamole and myriad other dips.