Marco Cochrane is the sculptor behind the forty-foot Bliss Dance, which was originally built for Burning Man before it was relocated to SF’s Treasure Island. Born to American artists in Venice and raised in Berkeley, Cochrane has crowd-funded and completed another sculpture. Like the sculpture I saw on Treasure Island, it depicts the same woman, Bay Area-based singer and dancer Deja Solis.
Long day on my feet, I dropped into a corner pub on the walk home. Tommy was there.
“Hey, Brennan. Been a while.”
“Tommy.” We shook. His hands are swollen and soft—always—since he’s been working at the car wash. The bartender sat a welcome IPA in front of me.
“What you been doin? You ain’t been here for a while,” Tommy said.
“Been around—busy, I guess.”
“Busy. Huh. But not, like car wash busy. Am I right?”
“Right.” I parked an elbow on the bar and took a swig.
“So, like today. What you been doin today—like, before now.”
“I dunno. The tourist thing.”
“Tourist?”
“Yeah, like seeing the sights. Went to Treasure Island and saw a sculpture. Big woman dancing.”
“Woman dancer. And, like she was naked?”
“Well, yeah, but a forty-foot steel sculpture. Art.”
“Ooo, art, and excuse me, Brennan, if I stick out my little pinky here with my tea.”
HJ Brennan 