PS1

On our trip to the MoMa: PS1, there was many interesting art works. There was a few creations that I wanted to describe but are way too complicated to put in words. So therefore, I picked two other interesting art works that I enjoyed viewing. One is a sculpture and one is a drawing.

The first art work I chose is a mixed medium (3D) sculpture. The title stated “Capture image #4” from the Ethnic Heritage Group. The figure is sitting down on the floor along side many other sculptures.  It is described to be mixed meduim because it has a broken strap around his waist and a radio as his head. The implied texture is rough  because of the radio. In this sculpture, the colors being used are black and white, especially on the lines of the legs of the figure which also creates a pattern. The figure has a big number “12” written on his chest. The black and white lines and the number combined give the sense of unity of the sculpture. By looking at it all together, you can tell the figure is a prisoner. Being that his head is a radio, it can be implied that he is a prisoner that is “tuned” into the outside life. The artist is communicating this to us by making his head a radio instead of just placing a radio beside the figure. This is why this sculpture caught my attention.

The second art work is by Charles White (American, 1918-1979). The art is titles "Birmingham Totem" (1964). It is a drawing made of ink and charcoal on paper. The drawing contains lines on the broken wooden pieces that form a sense of unity with the young boy who is at top of the pile. It also gives off a sense of unity because the drawing in centered in the middle so everything looks together. The pile of wood implies a direction of going up, in which on the top is the young boy. The boy is the focal point because of the direction of the lines on the wood. The message of this picture is that the boy is sad of a loss because of the broken wooden pieces and the boy looking through the pieces. It seems as if the pieces were once a home. The blanket that the boy is also covered with implies a shape of a triangle that also symbolizes a home. The color used is black because of the charcoal which gave off the mood of reminiscing and saddness. This is what I liked about the drawing; everything comes in together. I believed this is the message of the drawing even before reading the description itself. The description stated that the drawing was created in response to the bombing of the 16th St Baptist Church. The child is sorting through the debris of the bombing. After I read the description, I realized that the artist did give off the message he was trying to portray through the drawing.