I had two sets of stories that I feel could have been told through some pieces on display at the MIA. The first set consisted of "Kiss of Victory", by Sir Alfred Gilbert, and a small sword of England. When I thought about these two particular pieces I thought about a warrior losing his battle with life and being killed with a sword or some sort of dagger. I feel that even though death out numbered his chances to life that he still won in the end because he was embraced in his face of death with a kiss. A kiss that symbolized victory and great strength. He had to have put up a serious and note worthy battle.
My next set involved the piece titled "Roses", by Henri Fantin-Latour, a wheel lock rifle, and "The Father of Aviation". With those three pieces I developed a story. In the story there's a couple of "minoritized" young men doing everything in their will to do good in the world today and stay out of trouble. They are being chased by men with rifles and they are running for their lives. Because of the young mens race they are being generalized and seen as little thugs and crooks. That is not how they live their lives at all. People judge before they get to know people and it's really sad. But sad to say, everyone does it. But I think that the roses represents beauty and innocence, but all innocent things also have dark sides.
There are some interesting thoughts here, though I think giving more thought to the way the pieces were installed would strengthen the idea. Do you think a viewer encountering these three elements in one room would understand your point, or even assume the three elements were supposed to be related? While you have created a narrative in your head connecting these elements I am not so sure it would be clear to a viewer. Could you have included other figures in sculptures and paintings who might be represented as looking accusingly at the boys? Would the rifle be pointed at them?
ReplyDeleteRemember, too, that you need to cite properly what the works are. Who made the painting "The Father of Aviation"? When was the rifle made, where?
Also, this post would be a bit clearer and more interesting if you included images of the works you are referring to. When you post, you can include images by clicking the little landscape image button and either uploading pics from the desktop or through linking.