Threads of LOVE

During the 1960s, the word “love” publicly became somewhat of a counterculture term due to the anti-Vietnam war movement. In 1970, the year I was born, Robert Indiana [née Clark] created his original, now-iconic monumental LOVE sculpture, which belongs to The Indianapolis Museum of Art. It’s on display inside on the second floor (after many decades spent out on the front lawn). This famous LOVE series was Robert’s proclamation of civil disobedience. The audacity of making this four-letter word larger than life and shoving it in peoples’ faces was his act of rebellion. The askew “O” is considered brilliantly irreverent.

Robert Clark was adopted as an infant in New Castle, Indiana, and later moved to Indianapolis. He graduated Valedictorian from Arsenal Tech High School in 1946, in the same class as Martha Basan. After serving three years in the Army, Clark went to art school and later changed his surname to “Indiana”.

Robert is known for featuring bold serif font block letters in his work. He started with the words EAT, DIE, AIR, LOVE, which he considered the quadrants of life. In 1962, Robert began using the word “love” extensively in his repertoire of prints. This launched his iconic LOVE series.

The LOVE sculpture by Robert Indiana has always — quite literally — been part of my life. It was a constant throughout my childhood, as we frequently visited The Indianapolis Museum of Art, and my mom owns a brass replica displayed on her bookcase. Robert Indiana’s large monumental works of art can be found around the world, including the High Line in NYC, Israel, and the UK. There’s also the “INDIANA” sculpture by Robert in the atrium of The Indiana State Museum, with its letters vertically stacked.

Back to Martha…

Martha Joy Basan was a bright-eyed, brilliant beauty who wrote for the school paper. During her senior year, her boyfriend returned from overseas where he earned two Bronze Stars. Joy, as she preferred to be called, interviewed her boyfriend, Bob, for a feature. Joy earned her business and education degrees from Indiana University and taught business classes at Carmel High School (the school that inspired Hoosier native Ryan Murphy’s rival Vocal Adrenaline in GLEE). Joy had two children from her marriage of fifty years (not to Bob). A decade after becoming a widow, I tracked her down upon the request of her former boyfriend and war hero — thus the title of my first memoir, FINDING JOY (dumping Joy was the biggest regret of Bob’s life).

Bob and Joy profoundly impacted me by exhibiting the best example of what love can be. While Robert Indiana spelled it out in larger than life, Joy and Bob demonstrated its meaning.