In Western cultures, public sculptures of the human
form historically have expressed, among other things, ideals of
community and shared public life, according to author Richard Sennett.
Joseph Rykwert, in turn, described such sculpture as historically
signifying the physical world, a connection between human society and
nature. In the 1990s, Neil Estern, then president of the National
Sculpture Society, put it this way: "The figure has been central to
the making of sculpture since the beginning of human consciousness…I
feel confident that figurative sculpture will rise to the challenge of
providing a meaningful vehicle for artistic expression for many years to
come."
Sculptors of heroes, whenever they have worked, including today, have
grappled with aesthetic and technical issues, as well as other issues
largely beyond their control, such as changing perceptions about the
heroes they sculpt.
Perceptions about Ulysses S. Grant, like those of any historical figure
deemed to be a hero, have changed and continue to change. Perceptions
about Grant statuary are no exception.
Although Grant played a central role in the historic transition of
millions of African Americans from slavery to citizenship, he is a
relatively remote figure to the popular sensibilities of today.
Likewise, some of the public sculptures of the American Civil War hero,
so prominently commissioned, executed and displayed in their time, can
seem remote in ours.
But those sculptures – created, as noted in this story package, to
varying degrees of success by Daniel Chester French, Henry Merwin Shrady,
William O'Donovan, Franklin Simmons, Johannes Gelert, Louis Rebisso, and
others – tell a timely and topical story. How they aesthetically
expressed the meaning of a bygone hero in his own time sheds light on
the context in which today's sculptors express the meanings of
contemporary heroes. What about those sculptures of Grant can help
inform how heroes may be depicted in a time when diversity, not
necessarily unity, is celebrated? More specifically, what could and
should be the form, function and message of new public sculptures of
Grant?
As author Harriet F. Senie sees it, "Public sculpture has the
potential to function as a powerful connector, a meaningful and integral
part of contemporary public life, defining and expanding our common
ground." It seems a daunting challenge as well as a pressing need
today.
Shared Ideals
Successfully expressing shared ideals in three-dimensional forms has
always been a keenly difficult task. It would seem to go double for
today, when advanced mass media technology has fostered sensory
expectations arguably more acute than ever before. Civic sculptures
would not seem to apply to expectations fed by an unrelenting cacophony
of high-tech special effects and virtual cyber worlds. Further, this is
a time of complex diversity. Such diversity may work against
presumptions that there is an overarching narrative about shared civic
ideals that can be depicted convincingly in a physical form.
Additionally, this is a time when public institutions, initiatives and
visions have less cachet than private ones, making a shared narrative
that much more difficult to craft and share to compelling effect.
Sculptor Frederick Hart (1943-1999) was undaunted by sensibilities that
ran counter to his inspirations and craft, neither were his clients.
Hart strived in his sculptures to craft compelling figures that
expressed shared, high ideals. Grant Monument Association board member
Donald Martin Reynolds, in his book, Masters of American Sculpture,
quoted Hart as saying, "If art is to flourish in the 21st century,
it must renew its moral authority by…rededicating itself to life…and
must pursue something higher than itself. "
The advancement of human rights and dignity is one point on that common
ground, utterly compelling to contemporary sensibilities and worthy of
expression in art. Indeed, men and women, known or unknown, who strive
accordingly can be described as heroes. That sentiment conceivably
corresponds with the growing realization of Grant's pivotal role in the
transformation of millions from slavery to citizenship. The idea follows
that Grant was a hero on the right side of human rights and human
dignity, and thus is worthy of being depicted in public art in the 21st
century.
How can such a big idea be expressed in sculptural forms that
communicate easily across all the differences of today?
Figurative Sculptures
Depictions of the human body can communicate messages that transcend
most systems of classifications, and withstand the changes in
perceptions that come with the passage of time.
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The Three Soldiers by Frederick Hart
This photo is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike
2.5 License
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Depicting anonymous heroes
seems a particularly meaningful expression today, when heroes
need not be defined as exalted leaders, but also as men and
women whose good works, sacrifices or struggles inspire others.
They may be the men and women depicted in two sculptural groups
at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.: Hart's
Three Fighting Men (1984) or Glenna Goodacre's Vietnam Women's
Memorial (1993). |
Other compelling examples are the people on a
Depression-era breadline, as at the F.D.R. Memorial (1997), also in the
nation's capital. These are relatively recent works, but such sculptural
strategies – which emphasize anonymous heroes – were also utilized to
great, enduring effect during the American Renaissance, as in the
aforementioned Grant Memorial in Washington, D.C., and in the high relief
depictions of African-American troops of the Civil War in Saint Gaudens'
Robert Gould Shaw Memorial (1884) in Boston. Aspects of their approaches
may be fruitful in new sculptures of similar themes.
Robert Hughes described the continuing appeal of the
Shaw figures this way: "They are not cogs in a machine but volunteers
with free will, an essential part of the sculpture's message." The
Shaw Memorial, Hughes wrote, is "the most intensely felt image of
military commemoration made by an American."
In another sense, the Shaw remains
effective in the sense that it blends and balances historical details with
the metaphor of an angel, which hovers above the fated but brave mortals.
This balance between accuracy and symbol, between fact and poetry, if you
will, also seems to comport well with the perpetual, popular earning for
satisfying story telling, whether the story at hand is factual or
fictional.
Such narratives, particularly those
about people whose situations are recognizable, help bring order to
complex subjects.
Today, such narratives could also be applied to sculptures of famous
heroes, creating potentially interesting and communicative forms for
people. Instructive examples include the whimsical but sensitive
depictions of Abraham Lincoln and his family that have sprouted up in and
around the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield,
Illinois in recent years.
Whether the wax museum genre forms are
technically convincing is open to question, but an admirable effort to
convey empathy and instill interest in their subject, particularly among
young people, is clear. Keen attention to detail is evident in a series of
figures by StudioEIS depicting George Washington at various stages of his
life recently installed at Washington's home in Mount Vernon, Virginia.
There are vastly different
options for new depictions of great Americans.
Realism of a different ilk also created a fresh portrayal of FDR
in his wheelchair at the Washington, D.C. memorial in his honor. |
Photo courtesy of StudioEIS
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Other Depictions
But in fact, "a commission for a new memorial to Ulysses S. Grant
could really take any approach that it wanted. The possibilities are
endless!" says author Michele Bogart. She points out that New York
City's Percent for Art Program commissions "modern" work for
public spaces in an array of different styles.
Bogart adds, "Given my own personal preferences, I would prefer to
see a non-figurative approach to the challenge of representing Grant--or I
think I would. But that isn't to say that a strong and aesthetically
compelling figurative representation is out of the question. Whatever it
might be, it would have to be ideally an expression of the 21st century,
and embody some self-consciousness of the gap between our time and
Grant's."
Her interesting idea leads to other aspects and modes of recent public
sculpture: scale, temporary installations, and interactive sculptures.
Scale
Setting aside figurative sculpture,
temporary installations of art with provocative and highly visual forms
have generated attention as well as controversy. And in some cases, they
have done so, at least in part, with their enormous size. Examples include
artist Christo's Running Fence (1976) in California, The Umbrellas (1991)
in Ibaraki, Japan and The Gates (2005) in New York City.
Some figurative sculptures also have
used scale to make big impressions in recent years. Two examples: Paul
DiPasquale's 26-foot-high Neptune at Virginia Beach, and Ron Mueck's
15-foot-high Boy (2000), now in Aarhus, Denmark. Mueck is a so-called
hyperrealist sculptor, as is evident in the startling detail of his work.
Counter-Monuments
| Another tack for objects in public space has
been interactive sculpture, at times called counter-monuments.
This has been another provocative mode in recent decades. Jochen
and Esther Shalev-Gerz's Monument Against Fascism (1986) in
Hamburg, Germany, was a public installment – an aluminum pillar
equipped with a metal stylus – that enabled people to write
their names on it. As the surface of the pillar filled with
writing, it was periodically lowered to expose a new writing area,
until the pillar disappeared into the ground.
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Sculptor Jaume Plensa's Crown Fountain
(2004) in Chicago's Millennium Park is another interactive
example. In this case, two 50-foot-high monolithic towers display
giant, alternating video images of the faces of randomly chosen
Chicagoans of all ages and colors. Water intermittently springs
forth, seemingly from the mouth of some faces. Shallow pools
gather between the towers, creating a warm weather oasis for
children and families. |
Lastly, 3D laser and computer modeling
technologies are among the innovations that are changing how sculpture is
created, duplicated, enlarged, and electronically displayed. There seems
to be great potential to create accurate figures from various sources. See
how some practitioners work with such technologies at www.cyberfx.com,
www.computersculpture.com,
and http://museumofbeauty.biz/.
Looking Back &
Ahead
Such technologies do not change the timeless striving for the artist's
expression of human inspiration, dignity, values and potential. The need
for public expression of such ideas seems as crucial as ever before.
Figurative sculpture of heroes, such as those who have perpetuated
humankind's quest for such things, is an important form for such
expression.
Such great civic sculpture can result from a
balance between artistic acumen and ideals at least as enduring as the
materials utilized by the sculptor. The potential and possibilities of
such works, including sculptures of Grant, seem exciting.
Sources:
Hughes, Robert. "American Visions: What America's greatest art
reveals about our national character," Time Special Issue,
Spring 1997.
Merriam, Dena. "Investing the Sculptural Image: An Interview with
Neil Estern." Sculpture Review, Spring 1994 vol. XLIII, No. 1
pp. 24-29.
Reynolds, Donald Martin. Masters of American Sculpture. New York,
London & Paris: Abbeville Press Publishers, 1993.
Rykwert, Joseph. The Dancing Column: On Order in Architecture.
Cambridge, MA & London: The MIT Press, 1996.
Senie, Harriet F. Contemporary Public Sculpture: Tradition,
Transformation, and Controversy. New York & Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1992.
Sennett, Richard. Flesh and Stone: The Body and the City in Western
Civilization. New York & London: W.W. Norton & Co., 1994.
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