by: Kaitlin Dallman
The piece of art I am choosing to write on is entitled Piggyback which is made out of bronze and was created by Juan Munoz in 1996. It stands about as a tall as a person so each man is not quite life-size.
The sign next to the piece hinted that Munoz's sculpture could be looked at in two opposite view points. Is the man on the bottom carrying the man on his back because he is helping him? Or is the man on his back, as the phrase goes "the monkey" or the "huge weight" etc. that the man on the bottom must carry. In class while discussing Sontag we thought about how images may have become desensitized because we feel that many dramatic or large scale negative events have occurred in the past few years or even past decade. Depending on how you feel images affect you, you will probably sway one way or the other when analyzing this sculpture. As a history major I think dates are also a key component of trying to understand a part of culture. I think all of us would like to ask our artist what inspired them to create their piece but looking into political, social and historical events I would ask Munoz if there was something happening in the 90s that affected him so greatly he wanted to respond to it. When I initially walked up to the sculpture I automatically assumed the piece was meant to bring hope or inspire because I viewed the man on the bottom as giving the man on his back a "lift". I'm always quick to judge however, and so once I got closer to the structure and read the post on the wall, I re-evaluated what I saw.
One of the things that I most appreciated about the sculpture was the fact that it was a sculpture and not a painting or a photograph. Sontag felt strongly about the messages that photographs or the photographers could produce and what their effects were. With this sculpture, the physical size and weight itself portrays along with what was sculpted a heavy burden. If the sculpture would have been made out of paper, tooth picks or something that is flimsy, the message would not have come across as strong. Looking at all of the art in the museum, I realized I gravitated towards the sculpted or object oriented pieces because I felt I could better understand their message based off what was used in terms of materials. Each man was also sculpted to look differently which from a distance I could not see. The man on the back came across as smaller, emotionally distressed and not financially well off (the clothes looked plain and he was not wearing any shoes). While the man on the bottom did not represent anyone famous or rich, he seemed to represent a middle-class man who doing alright in life.
From reading the posts already on the blog (I was trying to find ideas for how to end the post!) it seems we all learned something out of our visit to the museum. As I stated, I definitely form an opinion on something right away and I was glad I took the time to stand in front of the sculpture and think about other possible ways to view the art.
Works Cited
Sontag, S. (1973, October 18). Photography. The New York Times Review of Books , p. Volume 20.
The piece of art I am choosing to write on is entitled Piggyback which is made out of bronze and was created by Juan Munoz in 1996. It stands about as a tall as a person so each man is not quite life-size.
The sign next to the piece hinted that Munoz's sculpture could be looked at in two opposite view points. Is the man on the bottom carrying the man on his back because he is helping him? Or is the man on his back, as the phrase goes "the monkey" or the "huge weight" etc. that the man on the bottom must carry. In class while discussing Sontag we thought about how images may have become desensitized because we feel that many dramatic or large scale negative events have occurred in the past few years or even past decade. Depending on how you feel images affect you, you will probably sway one way or the other when analyzing this sculpture. As a history major I think dates are also a key component of trying to understand a part of culture. I think all of us would like to ask our artist what inspired them to create their piece but looking into political, social and historical events I would ask Munoz if there was something happening in the 90s that affected him so greatly he wanted to respond to it. When I initially walked up to the sculpture I automatically assumed the piece was meant to bring hope or inspire because I viewed the man on the bottom as giving the man on his back a "lift". I'm always quick to judge however, and so once I got closer to the structure and read the post on the wall, I re-evaluated what I saw.
One of the things that I most appreciated about the sculpture was the fact that it was a sculpture and not a painting or a photograph. Sontag felt strongly about the messages that photographs or the photographers could produce and what their effects were. With this sculpture, the physical size and weight itself portrays along with what was sculpted a heavy burden. If the sculpture would have been made out of paper, tooth picks or something that is flimsy, the message would not have come across as strong. Looking at all of the art in the museum, I realized I gravitated towards the sculpted or object oriented pieces because I felt I could better understand their message based off what was used in terms of materials. Each man was also sculpted to look differently which from a distance I could not see. The man on the back came across as smaller, emotionally distressed and not financially well off (the clothes looked plain and he was not wearing any shoes). While the man on the bottom did not represent anyone famous or rich, he seemed to represent a middle-class man who doing alright in life.
From reading the posts already on the blog (I was trying to find ideas for how to end the post!) it seems we all learned something out of our visit to the museum. As I stated, I definitely form an opinion on something right away and I was glad I took the time to stand in front of the sculpture and think about other possible ways to view the art.
Works Cited
Sontag, S. (1973, October 18). Photography. The New York Times Review of Books , p. Volume 20.
1 comment:
From Ralph -
Nice post. I like that you acknowledge the mental baggage (not necessarily a bad thing) we each bring to the moment. For you it was the acute interest in history, and the desire to learn what was happening in the artist's world as the piece was created. This is quite perceptive, even as the question must remain unanswered.
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