If you log on to www.hubcapcreatures.com, you will find beautiful fish sculptures that have charisma and character. They are designed by Ptolemy and are made from urban automobile hubcaps that were not stolen, but found lying about roadways and junk yards.
Each Hubcap Creature is made from 100% recycled material and often show the scars of their previous existence, which simply adds to the charm and beauty of each piece. Prices range from $300 to $1,000 depending on the value of the material (fancy-assed hubcaps that once lived on a BMW), and the complexity of design.
According to the artist, “All around us are things of beauty and value, but their attributes are interpreted very subjectively. I believe that things utilitarian, or which give pleasure to the eye have the highest value. I come across many things which have been abandoned and find something more in them than their intrinsic worthlessness.”
Having once lived in Philadelphia, it does my heart good to know that our economy hasn’t nose-dived to the point that people feel the need to steal hubcaps. Gone are the good old days of Louie "The Lug" Capucci's hubcap establishment on Washington Avenue. Louie was also known as "Fagin" to thieves of culture in South Philadelphia. He taught hubcap lifting classes every Saturday night in his basement, and paid top dollar for stolen goods.
Today, Louie is in college, and hubcaps can be found lying about I-95; the Italian Market area, out in front of Giordano’s, Claudio’s, and DeBruno Brothers; and inside hundreds of potholes on Columbus Boulevard, nobody cares.
Now, they can truly be appreciated for their aesthetic value in fine Italian calamari sculptures.
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