Space

About a year and a half ago the Albright-Knox Art Gallery here in Buffalo had a show of sculpture. It was interesting because for the first few months they had two parallel exhibits: one was masterpieces by Rodin, and the other was of modern pieces. That in itself was really interesting to see.. the juxtaposition of old and new. (On the left is "The Thinker", which is the piece most folks think of when they think of Rodin.) And each took up an entire wing too.. so you could get a really good feel for what the pieces had to offer.

The thing that gets me about sculpture is the physical space it occupies. It's something that's unique to the medium. I don't care how big or powerful a painting is, they are made to be seen head on, usually. But sculpture can just kind of leap out at you in a way that paintings can't. You can also get that sense of movement, which is the thing I like best about sculpture. "Striding Man", also by Rodin, is a good example of what I'm talking about. It doesn't matter that he has no arms, you can see him moving as if he were trying to walk off the pedestal. Paintings can get this across as well, but there is something about sculpture that you can't really get away from and that is because it occupies the same space that we do. Chances are that when you're looking at a painting, it's on a wall, floor, ceiling, or whatever. But it's not really standing next to you.. It can FEEL like it is moving, or about to leap out and grab you or something, which is really cool, but it's more of an illusion.

Anyway, the modern pieces across the hall from the Rodins were something to see and it's one of those shows that will always stay with me. And it's because of that sense of space. Almost an invasion of space with some of them. And some were quite confrontational. The pieces in this exhibit seemed to follow you around.. Like you were in a crowd of people who aren't sure what to make of you, so they follow to make sure you aren't up to something sneaky. But there was one that stuck with me in particular... It just... SAT there.. Not moving and taking up all this space. And you HAD to deal with it because it's that huge and therefore must be confronted. There is no way to NOT look at this piece.

But then the show ended and the pieces moved on to other things. Imagine my surprise when I'm checking out Yahoo and come across this:It's called "Big Man" by Ron Mueck, and it's currently on display at the Grand Palais in Paris.

Up close, it's kind of creepy... He is just so sad.. And so lifelike.. Except for the size.. And that just adds to the emotion. He's really hitting us over the head with it. And it does, for all it's size and pose, have this sense of movement... Like he's going to get up and scream, or punch the wall, or stomp around. Even in the photo, I feel that. I almost want to tell those people to back away and not disturb him.... Or maybe that's because I got to see him up close and that's what I remember.

And it's such an emotional space that he occupies... It's hard to get away from.

But isn't that the way of it though?