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When the Brains Melt Down, the Dog Eats the Brain

Charlie Lucas
  • CL - When the Brains Melt Down, the Dog Eats the Brain - Master Image

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    Photo: Stephen Pitkin/Pitkin Studio
1987
Welded found metal on wooden base
43.5 x 49 x 15 inches
Collection of
Souls Grown Deep Foundation
Description

When the Brains Melt Down, the Dog Eats the Brain offers self-criticism and a warning. Lucas is pointing out the danger of excessive drinking. The animal is fashioned in a woven style like Eighteen-Wheeler, in baling wire. His "brain" is a heating coil melted down from overuse or defect. A bicycle handlebar projects hornlike above the animal's brain, a metaphoric control for errant behavior.