ÜGLY
The Acrobat, full view: the white skeleton balancing on its hands on a concrete block stained red and black, the skull hanging between the arms, both legs raised in a V, one vertical, the other slanting, in front of a grey plank fence, work by Robert Bibeau

The Acrobat

An articulated skeleton, built entirely by the artist, balancing on its hands at the two ends of a slab of poured concrete, legs raised in a V. Its limbs fold, and the dark bindings at the joints leave the mechanism in view. The head, remade, is cast in concrete; it hangs below the ribcage, facing the viewer. Shallow in depth, the piece fits in a shop window.

The Acrobat, detail of the head: skull painted white, black eye sockets and nasal cavity, teeth drawn as dark strokes, a thin wire stretched across the eyes, a screw showing at the corner of the jaw, white ribs in the background
Earlier state

The same work, photographed at an earlier stage of its making.

Skeleton balancing on its hands, arms spread wide and resting flat on a concrete slab, legs rising out of frame, in a back lane covered with fallen leaves, photographed in black and white
Closer frontal studio view: the skeleton balancing on its hands, the skull hanging between the arms, one raised leg ending at the knee, the other complete and thrown out at an angle, on a concrete block stained with red, white background
The Acrobat: silver-grey articulated skeleton balancing on its hands, legs spread in the air, on a concrete plinth stained with red
Skeleton balancing on its hands, body caked in a crusted coating with gauze along the spine, a dark cap and long pale fibres on the skull, standing against a white wall in high-contrast black and white
Possible readings

The dancing skeleton runs through the *Danses macabres* and the *calaveras* of José Guadalupe Posada, which made it a universal popular figure. Here death returns to the scale of the workbench: wire, worksite concrete, circus virtuosity.