While searching for a sculpture to take a look at, I decided to choose this one, simply because I walk past it all the time and never really spare it a glance. I figured I could take the time to learn what I can about it, and maybe even form a new-found appreciation for this art that I seemingly ignore, which seems to be the case with a lot of the art that I happen to walk by. I'm glad I did, as there's a lot more to this sculpture than meets the eye, and it's pretty neat that I can walk by it now and identify it as this really cool work of art instead of just another thing in the hallway.
At first sight, you can see a group of people huddled together. Judging by their expressions, they seem desperate to either get out or get in somewhere. There's also a larger metal piece attached, and both parts of the sculpture are standing on a large base.
This sculpture is a combination of both metal casting and assembly of metal pieces, and it's an additive process altogether. I thought the base might have been some other material at first, but if you look closely, you can see that it has screws in it just like the big metal piece, so it's just been painted over.
There are numerous interesting things about this particular piece. First of all, if you pay attention to the people in the sculpture, you can actually see that all the little components of their faces and bodies were actually done with fingers! I found this to be so amazing--to think that such a level of detail and expressiveness could be accomplished literally with just fingertips--it's something to be admired, for sure.
The second interesting thing I noted was actually brought to my attention by another classmate. See, at first, I was confused as to what particular style this piece would be classified as; because while we do have people portrayed very realistically (representational) we also have this big metal piece that doesn't really seem to represent anything. It was then that my classmate mentioned though... These people were on the train. The big metal piece is supposed to be a train wagon with the windows being the negative space in between. Once he said that, I completely got what the artist was doing and I'm now aware that this piece is indeed entirely representational.
It's so crazy that I didn't even realize it was a train. I don't think most people have. It makes a lot of sense though, especially when you take into account the expressions and movement of the people. It really does accurately portray the way we behave on the train; struggling to get in (or out), pushing people aside, just wanting to get on with our day. It really makes me see this piece as something really awesome.
And that's another point. You're not really sure if the people are trying to board the train, or get off it, which is another interesting thing and it makes you ponder it while looking at this piece.
Aside from the negative space I mentioned, there are some other visual elements at play here. This piece has a distinct texture; it's cool to the touch and very smooth. There's also some value because this sculpture is directly beneath the large ceiling window of the M building, so it creates light that shines down on it. Shapes are purely organic.
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