This is one of a few wooden items that sits on my desk, ostensibly to perform a function (usually clamping surfaces being glued) but really to play with.
The agreeable aspects of this peg are:
The dry texture of the wood. The way the surface is smooth but almost threatens not to be. The peg is pale, still clean, vulnerable to tarnish.
The way the peg is slightly larger than usual pegs. It is more solid. It declares itself.
The way the spring holds the two parts together. Its asymmetry.
The open and closing action. This uncomplex action is sufficient to keep me occupied, idiotically, for minutes at a time, mainly with testing the pressure of the spring on my thumb.
Its unfussy, utterly practical, design.
I have a lot of issues with monuments and monumental sculpture. My main objection being to the way they impose meanings with so little equivocation, so crudely.
You can respond, saying that Oldenburg is playing with this, attempting to subvert the traditional subject narratives of public monuments., with their grand historical themes and cast of important characters. Nonetheless, however the argumentation, his work remains is a big object which viewers have no control over, and cannot ignore.
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I find the bit where you say that "they impose meanings with so little equivocation" very interesting and I want to hear more
ReplyDeleteHi W...monuments typically take an event, single individual or group (often millitary) and present them to us, usually as heroes or martyrs, or at very least as noteworthy.
DeleteBut surely the what is 'heroism' or "noteworthy" is highly subjective. And those who are in some aspects exceptional individuals, will often have highly questionable characteristics.
Monuments tend to present carton simplifications of historical events, very often with nationalistic overtones. This is childish and often dishonest.
I do think true heroism exists, and I
recognise that nations need ways to acknowledge significant moments in their histories.
But I'd prefer if these avoided caricatures of participants or events, and allowed a diversity of interpretations of these events. A monument that I think does do this well is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, in Washington. TD