World Oddities Expo
World Oddities Expo
On Saturday, September 13, I went to the World Oddities Expo here in Savannah, Georgia. I’ve seen the advertisements before and always wanted to visit because I love all things strange and unusual. Side note: love that the anagram is W.O.E.
I took off the morning from working at the studio and went with my daughter, husband, and parents to check it out. The parking was absolutely horrendous and I wish we had left an hour earlier. Normally the convention has more parking, but those spaces weren’t available for some reason. Plus, they had a bunch of diesel-type trucks lining the road to the convention which I found weird in an inconvenient way.
We circled a bunch of times before deciding to go back across the Talmadge Bridge and take the ferry across the river. Unfortunately, my husband had to leave right after since all his free time was spent just looking for parking. My parents had their own little adventure on River Street. My dad likes to stop at Dubs for a drink (a little bar/restaurant near Plant District), but he usually ends up frustrated with them. This time it was because they didn’t have tap-to-pay. Honestly, glad not to be there for that one—he can be a bit “Karen-y.”
We skipped lunch and went across the ferry. There were so many people that we couldn’t get a window seat. I was more worried about getting seasick since my inner ear hates all motion, but luckily it was only a two-minute ride.
The convention itself was absolutely packed. We had to wait in a long line to get in—and oh my hell, that was annoying too because they only had one card reader, and it was having technical issues. Maybe they didn’t realize so many people were coming?
Still, I loved watching all the colorful people in line. A lot were dressed up: gothic outfits, chains, platform shoes, graphic tees with skulls and horror imagery. I even saw two people dressed as members of Kiss. Meanwhile, I wore floral pants and a tank top. I wish I had more edgy clothing, but I spend all my money on books. (Insert crying emoji here.)
Inside, the convention was interesting, but a little underwhelming. I liked the entomological displays the most—I’ve told my husband many times I’d love a whole room of bugs I could care for and pin once they pass naturally. He disagrees.
I saw a lot of wet specimens too, and if I’d had the money I might have taken one home. To the horror of cat lovers, many were kittens. My coworkers and I later joked grimly about how they even found them. Beyond kittens, there were snakes, reptiles, chicks, rats, and various animal fetuses. Prices weren’t cheap—one kitten was $150, and a large python in a ball was closer to $300.
Taxidermy was everywhere too. One of my favorites was a little white rat posed on a toilet. Another booth sold windchimes and figurines made of doll heads and parts. There was jewelry everywhere—much of it standard—but a few pieces stood out, like python spinal bones and animal teeth.
There was plenty of art too. Some was the usual anime-inspired digital work, but other pieces were darker and more unique. I especially liked the LED photographs of animal skeletons—they looked like little glowing x-rays. That’s something I’d love to bring into tattoo designs.
But the booth that completely stole my heart featured little baroque ceramic figurines with their heads swapped for plastic dinosaur heads. They were hilarious and wonderful. I wanted them all. The same booth also had a framed doll’s leg with American traditional tattoos painted on it, and I was very tempted to buy it. Then I remembered my daughter has dolls she’ll grow out of, and I could always experiment with those later.
I totally want to make my own version of this…
So many of the things I saw could become tattoos—jarred animals, dinosaur-faced ballroom dancers, scientific illustration skeletons, creepy dolls. All great inspiration. If I’m cool, I’ll sketch some for this post. If I’m lame, I’ll at least work them into future flash or larger tattoo designs.
If a World Oddities Expo comes near you, I do recommend going, especially if you’re into taxidermy or the bizarre. Or, if you make odd art yourself, consider setting up a booth. When I have enough strange creations of my own, I’d love to take part. Maybe next time I’ll even buy some weird treasures to clutter my house with—and traumatize my visitors.
