I'd never met a Genius beforeFollow

Until today. . .

The word 'Genius' is now tossed about wantonly, but to me, it implies an expertise that confounds any human expectation. A set of skills or abilities that do not appear possible.

Let me explain.

As our office block is part of the Health Service, and we have a smoking ban, I'm no longer allowed to take a smoke break in the bicycle shed on the office car park. I have to leave the premises, outside of the gates to the complex's car park. As I don't want to be the guy standing by the gates as officials drive in and out, I walk round the corner to a side street, and smoke outside some very basic houses. The residents are mostly students or unwaged. It's a poor area.

I went for a smoke today with a co-worker. As we talked crap and puffed away on our ciggies, a black guy wandered in front of us and started to fly a tiny, remote controlled toy plane. He looked 30 or 40-ish.

My friend (Mart) said "Willard's here again".

"Willard?" I asked.

At that point the black guy turned to my friend and said "Hello".

Mart: Hi Willard. Still living here?
Willard: Yeah. I've lived here for years. Don't want to move. Happy here
Mart: Didn't you sell some of your sculptures?
Willard: Yeah. David Lloyd bought some pieces.
Mart: I read in the papers he payed you 11 Million Pounds
Willard: Yeah. 11.2 Actually - well - 23 Million Dollars

By now I was thinking "Ahh. A nutter"

Mart: I thought you were in the States now?
Willard: No. I go there for chat shows and stuff, but I have to come back home to Birmingham. I miss my Mum and my Girlfriend if I'm away too long.

By now the light-bulb comes on in my head. I've seen this guy on TV and read about him on the web.

Willard Wigan is 50 years old (looks mid-30s.)

He has a learning disability (A type of Autism). He can't read or write. He is the world's greatest ever micro-sculptor.

Mart: So you working on anything now?
Willard: Yeah. Donald Trump asked me to make a model of 'Trump Towers'
Mart: How big?
Willard: Hmm. Pretty small. By the time I've finished carving it, you'd be able to fit 50 of them in a pinhead

I boggled

Mart: How much?
Willard: Money? Can't remember. I don't do money.
Mart: So doing it for free?
Willard: I think Mum said £500,000. Want me to go inside and ask her?
Mart: Naah

We chatted for 20 minutes and Mart & I are invited to his next exhibition as his guests.

So.

Who is Willard Wigan?


He made this, and this, and this

His sculptures can only be seen through a microscope, and he makes them by hand. He slows his heartbeat by slowing his breath (He told me he passes out occasionally, because for the fine detail, he has to paint strokes inbetween heartbeats or he'll destroy the piece).

I asked what he uses for his paintbrush.

"Oh, I've found that the hair off a fly's leg works best" he said.

Bill Gates and Johnny Depp are on his waiting list. This year he's made about 30 Million Dollars in sales and commissions. His house is worth less than 100K. And most days, he takes a break by flying model planes in the back-street outside his house.

I met a Genius today. And he's a thoroughly nice man. I'm still slightly phased.

Those are pretty neat, it's crazy how small they really are.

Nobby, just what the hell do you do?

Holy ****, that's pretty awesome to have such detail in such a small area.

LMAO

I do have a "Guess Who" from yesterday, but that's for another thread

He's a cool-people-meeter. Very common profession in England.

I fix things

...who carves grains of rice and then sells them for millions of dollars.

I don't think he's an artist or a genius, personally; but consensus would probably be that he's more eccentric than crazy - largely based on his material success, about which he cares nothing apparently.

I don't think he's an artist or a genius, personally; but consensus would probably be that he's more eccentric than crazy - largely based on his material success, about which he cares nothing apparently.

Well, we all know if he wasn't Autistic, his sculptures would sell for about $8 on ebay.

Having seen the quality of what he does, the only thing I disagree with is the 'genius' part.

What he does is off the scale

I used to do some work with autistic children. I figured that combined with helping folks move would get me into heaven.

There was this one kid, Jason, who would sit for hours and hours, writing the lyrics to Elvis albums in circles which descended in size on round pieces of construction paper he'd cut out to look like albums. He'd write all the songs in the order they were on the album, of course.

I'm not sure if I'd call him a genius, though, because he was from a dirt poor family that was still destitute and he didn't slow his heart to make his art. No, I'm not sure if I'd call him a genius. I think "mentally defective" would be more appropriate.

Nice kid, though.

Having seen the quality of what he does, the only thing I disagree with is the 'genius' part.

What he does is off the scale

See if you can't con him into sculpting you out of a grain of barely or something.

Offer to trade him "a shiny tuppence!"

Well, he paints them too. I spose that could push him into the artist category, how exceptional is hard to tell, cuz the stuffs too small..lol.

But genius, well genius in sculpting very small 'works of art'. Doesn't really show any bit of critical or really even abstract thinking. So, overall genious, maybe not. Maybe his ability to, seemingly, be completely immune to the commercial trappings of success could be called genius, but that could be just cuz he's bit daft.

You're gonna worm your way into his will, right Nobby?