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Ran into an Old Friend
Aug. 30th, 2018 09:19 amWe left Monday for Atlanta giving us time to get down here without a clock ticking in the back in our heads. We knew we had to get here early on Wednesday to have a hope of getting a parking place at the hotel. The drive down was more of an adventure than we would have liked adding about three and half hours to the drive. This was due to a number of accidents including a very large dump truck trying to mate with a tractor trailer, construction, and rain. The last obstacle was a red sports car that tried to get us to back end them in the insurance scam that has been going around. Thanks to Honda’s excellent breaking system and Peter’s lighting reflexes, it didn’t happen. As I said, more adventure than we needed.
Wednesday we got to the hotel we will be staying at and checked in knowing that the room was not going to be ready until the afternoon. Caroline spent the day with my parents and saw a really fascinating exhibit at the Carlos Museum on the Emory Campus on cats in Egypt. Peter and I went to the Center for Puppetry Arts to see the Dark Crystal exhibit, which is only open to members now and will open to the general public on Friday after the Dark Crystal Ball this evening.
It is a lovely and well-put together exhibit with lots of puppetry things to make any puppeteer drool a bit.
For me it went from really cool to total awesome when I turned the corner and saw something I had not seen in years.
A little background to my tale first.
Back in the 90s I landed a job at the Center for Puppetry Arts in the museum. First it was a job in but eventually I became a guide and the museum carpenter and jack of all trades.
In the museum one of our crowning pieces was a Mystic from Dark Crystal. His name was UrAc and he was the scribe of the Mystics. It is an amazing puppet. Now by the time I got there, there had been some bad decisions about placement and the like that had mostly been rectified but people being people and deciding that puppets were meant to be touched (we had signs all over the place that said other wise), UrAc’s nose was not in great shape and his tail was not either due to people petting him or pulling his tail.
I was given the task to create a barrier that would allow little children to see the puppet but would keep all but the most determined from touching it. It really took some doing because the “footprint” of the puppet was very odd. I did manage to create the structure they requested but it was a puzzle indeed.
UrAc was on this rather complex armature to support the weight of the puppet and give him a pose. There would be times that gravity would get the best of him and his head would slip off the armature. Someone would have to go in and put the head back to where it was suppose to be. I had the longest arms so I was elected UrAc’s keeper. There is just something about a puppet built by Henson that gives it a magic on its own. UrAc had glass eyes. When you picked up the head, the whole face would come to life as the light hit the eyes and they seemed to twinkle. It was amazing to see. I would let him look around a bit before putting his head on the armature until it slipped off again. I came to the conclusion that he got bored looking at one spot and want to look around a bit.
The salt, sweat and oils from a human hand is one of the biggest destroyer of foam. Over time puppet interiors will go ‘crumbly’ as the foam deteriorates from within and, if not covered with a fabric skin, without.
UrAc was not in great shape when we had to take him off the floor while they did asbestos abatement in the Center, which was a former school building. When they redid the whole museum into its second configuration, UrAc was not one of the pieces put back into the permanent exhibit partially due to size but his condition was continuing to deteriorate.
The last time I saw him, he was not in great shape. His latex was flaking. You could see the fiberglass skull peeking through his skin. It was sad. He was being used to figure out how to preserve the Henson puppets and prevent the damage that he had. I patted him on the head expecting never to see him again.
So turned the corner and what do I see but UrAc totally restored to his glory. I was so happy to see him. Peter says I said, “It’s my baby”. I thought I said, “It’s my buddy” but he’s right I could have said baby. It was such a strong emotional moment for me. Here was a puppet that I figured I would never see again due to damage and now it is in an exhibition for all to see looking like he did back in the day. Remember this puppet is now over 35 years old. Peter gave me a moment and I found myself talking to the puppet catching UrAc up on what happened since we parted. Silly I know but it made me feel good. I had a goofy grin on my face for most of the rest of the day.
I am grateful that I saw UrAc again.
Wednesday we got to the hotel we will be staying at and checked in knowing that the room was not going to be ready until the afternoon. Caroline spent the day with my parents and saw a really fascinating exhibit at the Carlos Museum on the Emory Campus on cats in Egypt. Peter and I went to the Center for Puppetry Arts to see the Dark Crystal exhibit, which is only open to members now and will open to the general public on Friday after the Dark Crystal Ball this evening.
It is a lovely and well-put together exhibit with lots of puppetry things to make any puppeteer drool a bit.
For me it went from really cool to total awesome when I turned the corner and saw something I had not seen in years.
A little background to my tale first.
Back in the 90s I landed a job at the Center for Puppetry Arts in the museum. First it was a job in but eventually I became a guide and the museum carpenter and jack of all trades.
In the museum one of our crowning pieces was a Mystic from Dark Crystal. His name was UrAc and he was the scribe of the Mystics. It is an amazing puppet. Now by the time I got there, there had been some bad decisions about placement and the like that had mostly been rectified but people being people and deciding that puppets were meant to be touched (we had signs all over the place that said other wise), UrAc’s nose was not in great shape and his tail was not either due to people petting him or pulling his tail.
I was given the task to create a barrier that would allow little children to see the puppet but would keep all but the most determined from touching it. It really took some doing because the “footprint” of the puppet was very odd. I did manage to create the structure they requested but it was a puzzle indeed.
UrAc was on this rather complex armature to support the weight of the puppet and give him a pose. There would be times that gravity would get the best of him and his head would slip off the armature. Someone would have to go in and put the head back to where it was suppose to be. I had the longest arms so I was elected UrAc’s keeper. There is just something about a puppet built by Henson that gives it a magic on its own. UrAc had glass eyes. When you picked up the head, the whole face would come to life as the light hit the eyes and they seemed to twinkle. It was amazing to see. I would let him look around a bit before putting his head on the armature until it slipped off again. I came to the conclusion that he got bored looking at one spot and want to look around a bit.
The salt, sweat and oils from a human hand is one of the biggest destroyer of foam. Over time puppet interiors will go ‘crumbly’ as the foam deteriorates from within and, if not covered with a fabric skin, without.
UrAc was not in great shape when we had to take him off the floor while they did asbestos abatement in the Center, which was a former school building. When they redid the whole museum into its second configuration, UrAc was not one of the pieces put back into the permanent exhibit partially due to size but his condition was continuing to deteriorate.
The last time I saw him, he was not in great shape. His latex was flaking. You could see the fiberglass skull peeking through his skin. It was sad. He was being used to figure out how to preserve the Henson puppets and prevent the damage that he had. I patted him on the head expecting never to see him again.
So turned the corner and what do I see but UrAc totally restored to his glory. I was so happy to see him. Peter says I said, “It’s my baby”. I thought I said, “It’s my buddy” but he’s right I could have said baby. It was such a strong emotional moment for me. Here was a puppet that I figured I would never see again due to damage and now it is in an exhibition for all to see looking like he did back in the day. Remember this puppet is now over 35 years old. Peter gave me a moment and I found myself talking to the puppet catching UrAc up on what happened since we parted. Silly I know but it made me feel good. I had a goofy grin on my face for most of the rest of the day.
I am grateful that I saw UrAc again.
