Remember “Wooly Willy” – The toy in which a magnetized pen was used to give a bald man some much-needed facial hair?
Well, “Wooly Willy” is alive and well in Hudson County. Forty-year-old Roger Sayre of Jersey City recently offered to shave his six-month-old beard and give it to the winning bidder on eBay.
Sayre, who teaches photography at Pace University, works in the medium of “conceptual art.” His performance art has, in the past, included an attempt to spend $100 in pennies at local stores within the span of two weeks. But Sayre’s work began to extend outside the immediate community after he attended a presentation given by a fellow Pace University art professor who directed a panel of artists that use internet auction website eBay.com as their medium.
While eBay usually offers more “normal” objects, like vintage clothing and collectable items, these artists posted more abstract items.
“There were people selling their ‘blackness’ on eBay,” said Sayre. “One guy sold a ‘performance.’ The artist didn’t get any money – [the bidder] just had to pay the eBay fee.”
The usually clean-shaven Sayre decided to grow a beard for six months, then offer it for sale, with the highest bidder earning the right to decide which style of facial hair Sayre will wear once he shaves it.
How he started
Sayre posted his advertisement on eBay.com on May 26 under the heading, “Shave my Beard for Art. Real Life ‘Wooly Willy.’ ” EBay allows its sellers to list items under specific categories for easy browsing, so Sayre opted to file his ad under the category labeled “Weird Stuff,” with a starting bid of $4.99.
“I wasn’t as interested in selling it as seeing how many viewers it would get,” said Sayre. “I wanted to see if anybody would be willing to go out on a limb and bid on it.”
Sold for $329, but…
And “go out on a limb” they did. Sayre’s eBay posting got 90 visitors on its first day alone.
“I remember we were really excited when it hit 100,” Sayre said. “Then, it hit 1,000.”
As the number of visitors grew, so did the number of bids on the beard. By the time the auction closed nine days later, there were a total of 53 bids, with a winning bid of $329.99 – a shock to Sayre, who was stunned that people had even managed to find his auction among the millions of items for sale on the Internet site.
“I had only expected $20. That was awesome,” Sayre gushed.
According to eBay regulations, the highest bidder is expected to contact the seller of the item they’ve won within a few days of winning the item. The winning bidder of Sayre’s beard, whose real name does not appear on eBay, hasn’t contacted Sayre or responded to Sayre’s e-mails since placing the $329.99 bid.
Sayre checked the bidder’s “feedback level,” which serves as an indication of how many items the person has previously bought and sold. Customers are encouraged to leave comments about the person, with positive feedback giving the individual a higher numerical rating, and negative feedback giving them a lower rating. The rating of Sayre’s highest bidder was “-1”, indicating that their previous eBay experiences were less than satisfactory.
After doing some research, Sayre discovered that the culprit was actually a disgruntled high school student from Virginia, who was using a former teacher’s personal information to place bogus bids on eBay to give the teacher a bad online reputation.
Took it on the chin
“This guy would buy stuff and not pay, and give the sellers bad feedback,” Sayre said, adding that the student allegedly used alternative identification names on eBay in the hopes that he couldn’t be tracked down.
“I’m sure I’m not going to get the money for it,” Sayre said. “I took a gamble, and it didn’t work.”
Laughing, he added that the student was probably going to “get in trouble” for the prank, since Sayre had alerted both the victimized teacher and the student’s hometown police department that there was an alleged case of identity theft going on.
Now, Sayre can offer the beard to someone else beginning June 13 if the bidder doesn’t pony up the dough. The second-highest bidder, referred to by Sayre as “Fifi,” has indicated that she is very interested in purchasing the beard if it becomes available again.
“Fifi e-mails me a lot. She was interested in having a piece of art,” he said. “[She] wants me to have an Amish beard…kind of a Lincoln beard.”
Fifi actually lives on Sayre’s street, but didn’t know him before the bid. She offered him five dollars less than the highest bidder.
Achtung, baby
The original high bidder had initially requested that Sayre don an Adolf Hitler-style moustache, prompting Sayre to place some restrictions on the winning design. Along with the offensive Hitler style, Sayre also refused to accept requests for words shaved into the beard, since designs like that would be too intricate for his ordinary electric razor.
So once it’s established what beard style Sayre will wear, how long will he actually sport it before shaving it off again?
“I’ve only been asked that by three people,” he laughed, adding that he thought it would be the first detail would-be buyers would want to know.
“If it’s something I like, I’ll wear it for a while – a month, at least,” he said. “If I don’t like it, I’ll wear it for a week.”
The winning bidder will receive “before” and “after” photos of Sayre, his leftover whiskers (if they choose), and certification from the Jersey City Museum that Sayre’s project is an “official” work of art.
Sayre has donated his work to the museum in the past, and described it as a “mini Museum of Modern Art,” conveniently located in Jersey City. Sayre approached the museum’s associate curator Rocio Aranda about the project. Though reluctant at first, Aranda eventually decided to participate.
“She didn’t agree to it immediately,” said Sayre. “She checked with the museum. Once they gave her the ‘OK,’ she was very enthusiastic about it.”
Tepid support from the Misses
One person who hasn’t been entirely enthusiastic about Sayre’s project is his wife of seven years, Christy. Sayre said that Christy has been basically supportive of his endeavor, but he was quick to point out that she was never too fond of his furry face.
“My wife wanted me to shave the whole beard off. She’s looking forward to seeing my whole face again,” said Sayre. “I made sure I married a tolerant person. She knew she was going to put up with a lot when she married me. She’s recognizing that I’m having fun, and she lets me have my fun.”
The couple’s 2 year-old daughter Olive may be in for a shock when Daddy’s whiskers suddenly disappear.
“I’ve been telling her that I’m going to shave it off,” Sayre said, adding that he wants to have Olive present when he finally shaves his beard, so that she’s not scared by her father’s sudden new appearance.
Sayre’s website, www.rogersayre.com, will have photos of his new ‘do once the eBay transaction is completed. While he personally favors the “Mutton Chops” style (a full beard with no hair covering the chin), the fate of Sayre’s face will be left entirely up to whoever wins the auction.
Sayre, however, has no plans to keep the money for himself. He wants to give the money to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, since a relative of his suffers from the disease.
“I wasn’t as interested in the money as seeing how many people would look at it,” he said. “I like playing with the definition of what the parameters of art are. It remains exciting when it’s not a static thing.”
He’s displayed his work in his studio, The Brunswick Window, located on Brunswick and Fourth Streets in Jersey City.