Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Resonating Bodies #2

The tuba of Resonating Bodies by Tony Cragg, Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Park, Battery Park City, New York

The bugle of “Resonating Bodies” by Tony Cragg, 1996
Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Park, Battery Park City
New York, September 2007

Resonating Bodies comprises a pair of bronzes in a kind of bland, unthreatening public art-ese: instantly recognizable figuration with a hint of play, at large but not daunting scale. One of the two bronzes is in the form of a mandolin or a lute, a classic trope in art history (think Caravaggio, or Frans Hals in the Louvre); the other resembles the bell of a tuba, but it only twists once and has no valves, so perhaps it’s more like a bugle. Their ridges and grooves – sound waves, perhaps; Cragg began his career as a scientist – invite you to run your hands over them, a privilege of public sculpture, though as this is New York you will probably want to use some Purell afterward.” (Tony Cragg, Resonating Bodies, 1996, — Art in Common)

See also: Resonating Bodies #1

1 comment:

cieldequimper said...

It looks like parts of an elephant to me...