MOMA Teaching Exercise

The work I selected at the MOMA is by the American artist Lee Bontecou, Untitled 1961. This piece is my favorite work in the MOMA. I would consider this piece a wall-hanging, abstract sculpture It is made of welded steel, canvas, black fabric, rawhide, copper wire, and soot.. Using simple materials, she creates an ominous, geological aesthetic that is very elemental and engaging. Bontecou uses neutral, monochromatic earth tones and black calling to mind combat fatigues or dusty battle fields. She creates shapes in space using rebar with stretched fabric over it and each work usually contains a negative “void” somewhere central in the piece. The mood of her sculptures evokes martial power, the void of cannon barrels or the mouth of a volcano, and the functional technology of tanks. There is a sense of foreboding, like an earthquake is about to happen. The forms she creates are like fractured stone, while simultaneously inferring a sense of the artificial. This particular work is somewhat rectilinear, almost as if your television transformed into a large gun or an exhaust vent. I find it particularly interesting that she can achieve a very technological aesthetic using the material she uses in this piece.

I shared this piece with my girlfriend, Julia (I had to bribe her with strawberry shortcake). I began by relaying the information and my interpretations as seen in the first paragraph above. She prompted me with some questions afterward: “Who were her contemporaries? Why is her work so dark?” In finding the answers to these questions I also gained more insight into the artist.

Her work is heavily influenced by the effects of World War II, in which both her parents participated. This work was also created in the 1960’s which was a time of duress and possible wars in Vietnam and Cuba. It probably looked like the whole world was going to war again at that time. This is the climate in which Ms. Bontecou created this work, which is evident in the mood of the piece.

Her contemporaries in New York at the time included Jackson Polluck (Abstract Expressionism), Andy Warhol (Pop Art), and Dan Flavin (Minimalism). The artistic movements that these artists participated in were all happening during the time when she created this work. I think you can see evidence of these movements in this work, especially Minimalism and the brooding, primal emotion of Expressionism. 

Julia commented that the voids in Lee Bontecou’s work looked like bullet holes. In response to my impression that there was an ominous feeling to the work and that something was about to happen, she felt that the action had “already happened, this is the aftermath, it had already exploded.” I found these responses interesting.

The experience of “teaching” this work was rewarding. I was prompted to find out more personal information about the artist; what drove her to create the work that she did? Why does the piece evoke dark emotions and unease? I was able to get a different perspective on the work in terms of emotional impressions and mood. I found it easy to communicate my own perspective and the visual analysis of the work. I liked the interaction and conversation revolving around the interpretation of this piece. It was more difficult to find out and communicate facts and background of the artist, in particular because Lee Bontecou rarely comments on her own work. Those aspects involved a little extrapolation and assumptions on my part, which gave me less confidence in relaying them. It was also challenging to fill in the missing information from my initial assessment “on the fly” (i.e. hurriedly searching on the internet). I learned how important it is to have all the information at hand and to anticipate potential questions in your preparations.

(Some other MOMA shots below)