Making a Mannequin

Everything in this world has a story behind it. Whether it be a lamp shade in your living room, class cup on your dining room table, or a flashlight you might take on a camping trip. Through the development of man and civilizations every necessity and desire has spurned creativity and innovation and had ultimately led to the comfortable affordable lives that some of us have in this great country.

But there are some inventions that do not get as much press as others. It is far more attractive for people to show an interest on things light the light bulb or the computer in terms of their history and development then a door handle or a mannequin. This is because the things that border on the imposable and stretch the limits f our imaginations are the ones that we are constantly trying to understand and capture on a more fundamental level. This naturally results in the neglect of the careful artistry, technique, and craftsmanship that is invested on the part of hundreds of thousands of people thro8ught history.

I bring this up because I word at a mannequin manufacturing warehoused and I see the tireless discipline in and work it take for hundreds of dedicated workers to make sure that there are constantly new and well-built mannequins in the storefronts and shopping malls through this country and indeed the world. I watch as a beautiful model comes into the artist studio and disrobes. I oversee the sculpture and computer designers careful and masterfully reconstruct her likeness in the clay. I see them fixing and polishing out all the little flaws and watch as they perfect what is was almost perfect already. The craftsmanship and artistic ability that is used to make something as simple and commonplace as a mannequin is just one of the innumerable examples of the untold stories of the non-flashy trades in life that are really as beautiful as the capacity of the person paying attention.

Look behind the commonplace and if you pay attention you can read and listen to the story and music of hard work and dedication that lies behind the things we take for granted every day.