Sorry I’m transferring this over so late!
As recently as yesterday afternoon, an art installation was placed in the middle of Munger Meadow. This installation was a sculpture of a very realist-looking man. Yet seeing a man staged in the middle of an all-women’s college campus was not what stood out. The man was nearly completely naked, as he was depicted as having gone ‘commando’ only wearing a pair of briefs. Arms outstretched and eyes closed, the man looked like a naked zombie walking through the snow covered fields.
This sculpture brought on an immense degree of dialogue and discussion among wellesley students and faculty. One of the big questions was, what is it? Why is it here? What does it mean or represent? This sculpture tied in directly to Professor Conway’s lecture and article titled “Doing Science Making Art.” As I looked at the sculpture, I wondered what made the artwork valuable as well as controversial. In addition, in his article Professor Conway states that “Techniques are employed because they have predictable results: drawing with lines is useful in depicting object shape; portraits often capture precisely the line formed by closed lips because it provides a good cue to the sitter’s identity.” This made me wonder, what was going through the artists mind as he brought this real, man-like sculpture to life? Why had he depict the droopey, sleepy face in such a way, was it intended to bring out such a viceral reaction among those looking at the sculpture? In addition, his lecture made me think of what type of visual neurons were activated while looking at the sculpture. Some students felt triggered by the sculpture as well, did these students undergo a fight or flight reaction that was stimulated by visual neurons? I was left pondering these questions after Professor Conways lecture and found his talk to be very insightful in terms of looking at art in a visual and cognitive way.