What is it? It’s Re-Neavus, a sculpture surrounded by cypress trees in an otherwise vacant lot on the corner of St. Claude and Spain, in the middle of the quirky, burgeoning St. Claude Arts District.
I can’t decide whether it’s a creature or a vessel. At its bow is a horselike head, and it stands on sturdy support beams that look like sections of a telephone pole, or maybe the posts used to anchor boats in a harbor. The front half of its body looks like a ship, with a mast and sails that resemble a large, imposing bird, maybe even a pterodactyl. But walk towards its stern and it becomes a skeletal whale or very large fish.
The sculpture is made mostly of driftwood, pieces formed naturally in just the right shapes, held together with rebar. An archway leading into the lot welcomes the visitor with the words, carved in driftwood, “Universal Garden.”
The sculpture has changed a bit in the year-and-some-months it has stood watch over this corner. The head at the front used to look more like a deer, sporting a set of antlers. The antlers are gone, but look closely and…is that a strand of faded Mardi Gras beads around its neck? And is that Spanish moss growing on its side? If it’s a creature, it’s adapting to its environment. And if it’s a vessel, it seems to have dropped anchor.
As I walk around this lovely oddity again, I’m not sure whether it’s going to fly, swim, drift away or stand its ground. In a universal garden, anything’s possible.
by Rebecca Connor
Rebecca Connor is a New Orleans-based freelance writer.
this is so funny! I Googled this sculpture because some friends and I were having a friendly difference of opinion as to what this sculpture, which I took a picture of while we were in New Orleans, really was. So after I read them your article, everybody feels validated Joy. Thanks!