Visiting a museum is like a travel to the past. That is because of the diversity of the cultures which can be reflected upon artworks that were made in different times in history. It is also the place where magnificent masterpieces of different artists are highly appreciated by both experts and the common people who just wanted to see the spectacular collections of art.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is located within the vicinity of New York City. It can be found in a place where people can easily recognize it. The Museum houses different kinds of artwork, ranging from paintings to the sculptures. Regardless of the form, each artwork has some kind of history within every one of them, and that they themselves reflected the emotions felt by their artists especially in the when these artworks are being produced.
Museum experience can be regarded as unique and exciting. After making sure of the legitimacy of the entrance, I, along with the other spectators, are guided by a curator to prevent skipping of artworks. We are then allowed to view the objects for quite sometime before moving to the next artwork. As I encounter the artworks one by one, I begin to realize that artists do not need a concrete reasoning or even a clear mind to start making an artwork. What they only need is some sort of motivation, which is brought along together with their creative minds. The difference of such artwork compared with other pre-determined handicrafts is the sense os spontaineity, which greatly added to the artistic sense of the artwork.
During the visit to the museum, I particularly took interest in two of the many artworks found there. There is no particular reason as to why I chose the two artworks. It is just their physical appearances differ from normal and their descriptions are quite interesting to know further.
The Walking Man by Auguste Rodin
The Walking Man, also known as Saint John the Baptist or First Impression, is a sculpture made by the famous sculptor Auguste Rodin in the year 1907. The statue is mostly made out of bronze, and stands at a height of 213.5 cm, with a with of 71.7 cm, and length of 156.5 cm (Musee Rodin).
The inspiration for the said artwork can be traced back to the time when Rodin became interested in the studies about Saint John the Baptist. Using the discovered body parts of Saint John, Rodin tried to assemble the parts, and the resulting assembly was the sculpture. Based from its appearance, the figure is surreal, because of the absence of the head, thus, breaking the art norm of a full body sculpture. In addition to this, the assembly parts do not fit with each other due to the poor adjustments made to the sculpture (Musee Rodin). However, this does not mean that the artwork turned worse as it seems. In fact, this masterpiece becomes unexpectedly magnificent due to its unconventional concept.
This idea of Rodin is not new to him. In fact, his other artworks have the same conceptualization in a way that they all depict human figures. Moreover, the use of human figures enabled him to express emotions freely through the poses made by the sculptures, Most of the time, Rodin conveys realism through his works, and The Walking Man is not an exception to it (Artsy). Basing his work from a religious icon, Rodin was able to tell that Biblical Characters actually lived in this world at some point in the past.
Flow by Fujikasa Satoko
Flow is a sculpture made by Fujikasa Sakoto in the year 2011 in the Heisei period in Japan. It is also considered as a ceramic material which is made out of “sand-glazed stoneware with matte white slip” (Metropolitan Museum of Art).
The sculpture took in consideration the properties of ceramic materials in order to produce an artwork that depicts motion (Metropolitan Museum of Art). In the sculpture, it can be seen that there is some sort of an illusion which makes water looked like it continuously moves in a repetitive manner. Also, it can be observed that the sculpture does not rely on wider base in order to stand still despite the complexity of the design. As a result, the sculpture gives an impression that gravity is being resisted while retaining its elegance (C-File).
The secret behind this impressive work of art comes from the material itself. The sculpture is made from a clay native only in Shigaraki. This clay is being melded at a very slow rate that it took months to satisfy the required amount of materials of a single sculpture. In addition to this, the exterior portion of the artwork was made thin to display the intended visual presentation. Though the artwork is highly spectacular, the effort it takes to complete the sculpture is very exhausting enough that Satoko deserves the positive feedbacks that were accredited to her work (C-File).
Satoko’s inspiration in making these kinds of artwork is her dedication to her talent. For her, it is important to consider art not only as art itself, but also as an aspect of life which must be cultivated with great emotional considerations. Being able to do this will enable an individual to become unified with art, and will be able to draw energy from the nature to convey its beauty and significance in the lives of the people (C-File).
Works Cited
"Auguste Rodin." Artsy. 2016. Web. 13 Apr. 2016.
"Exhibition | Fujikasa Satoko, “Form in Motion” at Joan B. Mirviss, New York." C-File. 2016. Web. 13 Apr. 2016.
"Fujisaka Satoko:Flow." Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2016. Web. 13 Apr. 2016.
"The Walking Man." Musee Rodin. Web. 13 Apr. 2016.
