Monday, August 07, 2000
Pig Parade: Porkfolio by PNC
Swine shines with real gold
By Owen Findsen
The Cincinnati Enquirer
This is 100th in a series spotlighting pigs from the Big Pig Gig Public Art Project taking place in Cincinnati, Covington and Newport. Find past pig profiles and event details at Cincinnati.com/bigpiggig
Who in the world would commission a real gold pig? “It was a joke,” Bill Lawley says. “I submitted the design as a joke. I didn't think anybody would pick it!”
Although another pig, Piganthropy, is covered with imitation gold leaf, Mr. Lawley's pig is the real McCoy, covered with tissue-thin sheets of 23-karat gold. (Don't even try. It cannot be removed.)
Artist: William Lawley, 42, Cheviot, a sign painter and ceramic artist.
Sponsor: PNC Bank for the Carnegie Art Center.
This pig's pen: PNC Center, Fifth and Main.
You were inspired by: I submitted two designs, one pig covered with sod and one covered with gold leaf. I wanted to do the sod pig.
What's the pig idea? As a sign painter, I do a lot of gold leaf. My idea was to cover the pig with gold leaf and call it Gilded Pig. The people at PNC Bank suggested adding a brief case with a dollar sign on it and calling it Porkfolio by PNC.
Completing the project took: My wife was seven months pregnant, so I was in a race to get the pig done. I turned it in on a Wedneday and on Saturday our third child, Olivia Rain, was born.
Your high on the hog was: Watching it gleam in my driveway.
Pig peeve: I realized that people would try to scrape off the gold with their fingernails, so I had to have it clear-coated. It paid off because the day we installed the pig, they were working on the building. By the end of the day, it was covered with marble dust. Nobody thought to cover it up. If anybody touched the pig that day it would be like rubbing it with sandpaper.
With the clear coat, it lost the lustre of gold. It looks like spray paint except in direct sunlight. Go see it after 2:30 p.m. and the gold really shines.
Best pig tale: Everybody wanted to get a picture of me gilding a pig butt.
My favorite pork dish: Goetta.
What artistic movement most affected the outcome of this pig? Baroque. The Gilded Age.
The materials cost: I got an incredible deal; $800 for the gold leaf. Total cost was $900.
Do you consider this art or porkography? Gilding is an art.
If your pig starred in a movie, who would you cast to play the role? Somebody with gold in their name, Goldstein, Goldberg.
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Pig Parade: Porkfolio by PNC
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