A 9′ Tall Tower of 50,000 Wishbones and 20 Other Examples of Wishbone Art For Thanksgiving.

more wishbone art for thanksgiving

Last year I treated my readers to a selection of Wishbone inspired art on Turkey Day. This year I have a new round-up of contemporary art, furniture and other Wishbone items I’d like to share with you in honor of Thanksgiving.

Wishbone art for Thanksgiving

“Cathedral de St. Icarus, the Wishful” by artist Berenice Rarig

Cathedral de St. Icarus, the Wishful

While collecting wishbones artist Berenice Rarig realized that there is a relationship between the seemingly individual rituals of wishing and the more traditionally religious rituals of prayer.

Cathedral de St. Icarus, the Wishful 2

wishbones

This inspired Berenice to create some various pieces of ‘wishbone’ art. Most impressive is her Cathedral de St. Icarus the Wishful, made with over 50,000 wishbones, wire frame, lights and stands approximately 9 feet high.

wishbone tower
(Collection of the artist – touring installation).

Offspring of Icarus by Berenice Rarig (broken wishbones and beeswax):

See more from her ‘Offspring of Icarus’ here

Both The Cathedral de St. Icarus and Offspring of Icarus are parts of Rarig’s Soul Cages collection.

Truong Tran’s Wishbone Art
Three Wishes, 2008, enamel on wishbones:
Truong Tran's Wishbone Art

wishbone art

Tran’s Wishbone Installation:
Tran's Wishbone Installation

Truong Tran: Before the Wish, A short (6 and a half minute) documentary about the process of visual artist Truong Tran collecting one thousand wishbones by hand for his installation, Wish (2012), first displayed at SOMArts Gallery in San Francisco:

Credits: Directed/Shot/Edited by Daniel Lichtenberg, Post at Photon Creative

Lorna Simpson: III (Three Wishbones in a Wood Box)
Three Wishbones in a Wood Box

Lorna Simpson three wishbones

Lorna Simpson is best known for her photography, which often combines images of black women with text as a way to explore society’s relationship with race, sex, and ethnicity. Frequently elusive, her works involve the viewer in the creation of their meaning while also confronting the viewer with the underlying racism still found in American culture. Over time, Simpson’s work has grown to include sculpture as a way to enrich her explorations of the relationship between words and image. With this piece, Simpson continued with that focus, and centered on the wishbone, a key of her artistic imagery. Drawing on the metaphorical meanings of the project’s materials, Simpson used III as both an examination of and meditation on wishing. The set includes a wooden box filled with three contrasting wishbones, or “wishes,” made from bronze, ceramic, and rubber. The bronze and rubber wishbones are unbreakably rigid. The ceramic wishbone was designed to be fragile, which was the artist’s intention.


Available for purchase here at MoMA
or here at Artware Editions

“Point”, “Weave” and “Float”, 3 pieces from artist Dana Weir‘s Wishbone series. Encaustic collage with map and real bone, 2010, 6″ x 6″ each:
point by Dana Weir

weave by Dana Weir

float by Dana Weir

Yoga Saraswati‘s Little Wishes, wish bones, red thread, pastel on black paper, 19 x 27 cm:
Yoga Saraswat

Nina C Marrero, Handmade studies in pencil, charcoal, and ink, with a final graphic translation of a wishbone:
Nina C Marrero wishbones

Ethan Patrick Harris, The Endless Throb:
Ethan Patrick Harris

Barbie KJAR, Wishbone 2005, drypoint etching, 180 x 180cm:
Barbie KJAR

Joey Monsoon‘s Wishbone Mechanic:
Joey Monsoon

Mark Beam’s WISH BONE, painted mixed media sculpture, signed and dated on verso, 30” tall:
mark beam

Alie Ward, Wishbone print:
alie ward wishbone print

Wishbones For The Home (furniture, decor and housewares):

StackLab’s Wood tables with their signature ‘Wishbone’ legs

StackLab’s Wishbone Walnut table (private commission). Solid, machined bronze stitches replace traditional bowtie joints to stabilize the natural crack in the wood. The legs are Stacklab’s signature cast bronze Wishbone design in a polished finish.

stacklab wishbone leg table

The Rubaiyat Table is a 10’ x 36” x 3” historic redwood burl paired with Stacklab’s sand-cast aluminum ‘Wishbone’ legs.

The Troost Desk is a 10’ x 38” x 3” historic redwood burl paired with Stacklab’s sand-cast aluminum ‘Wishbone’ legs.

Modern Toronto has an interesting article and interview with Jeff Forrest of StackLab about their wishbone tables here

Brass Wishbone by jewelry designer Herbert Hoover in fun packaging.

herbert hoover genuine wishbone

Decorative Grand Wishbones by Lunares
Decorative Grand Wishbones by Lunares

Lucky Break Wishbone Wall Hooks and Jewelry Holder by IMM Living
wishbone wall hooks

Other wishbone item links:
•Wishbone art to buy via Fine Art America
•There are almost 5,000 Wishbone items (jewelry,housewares and art) available here on etsy
•Don’t forget to see last year’s 18 pieces of art inspired by the wishbone here.

Happy Thanksgiving!