DON DOUGAN  

more about ICARIAN NOCTURNE
There are one-hundred- and-ninety-nine
verification slips
contained in the box.

The wings are gold
leafed resin castings
taken from a 19th
century alabaster
sculpture I repaired.

The wishbone came
from a chicken my wife
roasted in a most
delicious manner.
While I was sewing up the red satin for the pillow, suddenly the reason I had been collecting those little slips of paper for years became clear, and the penultimate piece of the puzzle – the metaphor of Icarus – was born.
This work began with a invitation to install a piece of sculpture outdoors on a college campus for several months, coinciding with the chance acquiring of some marble architectural fragments. 

Though the marble fragments were later discarded from the design, they were accompanied by work on a pair of broken wings from a 19th-century sculpture carved in alabaster. 

The wishbone was a natural association to the wings, and several sheets of lead and a piece of plate glass (both left over from other projects) seemed appropriate. 
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ICARIAN NOCTURNE 
43" wide detail
partially buried outdoor installation
original installation showing marble and ceramic elements
In the original installation the six-foot wide marble elements were installed partially buried with their upper surfaces one-inch above ground level, while the glass covering the lead-lined box was installed one-inch below ground level.

The interior of the box is four-and-a-half inches deep.