Urs Fischer, Dakis & Lietta
Immediate Response:
I am drawn to the contrast of colors. My eye is drawn to the bright red people in the middle that are hugging and looking happy. The feeling this piece gives is of hot and cold tension where I originally thought it was about the unhappiness of the couple but then as I looked deeper I see the 3 pairs of the couple as happy. There is a red version of the man and woman on their own shoulder facing away with a slouched position. So either they’re better together or worse together. I can’t tell if the two people in black are trying to have a discussion or leaving an embrace. They seem to be the same age in each form.
Objective Description:
The sculpture has a main pair of figures. A woman on the left (when facing the sculpture) and a man on the right standing on some layer of rock. After further inspection there are objects buried in the rock. I was able to pick out what looks like corn and another that looks like a plane headrest cushion. The largest part and foundation is fully coated in black. The figures are facing each other with each having an arm extended. The man has his other arm towards his head. The woman’s other arm is holding a smaller version of the couple. This one they have their arms linked. This form is covered in orange with a slight ombre of lighter orange toward the feet. Another figure of the pair is directly in between the two black figures on the “ground”. This pair the woman is hugging the man’s arm with his arm on her back. This is orange with a more dramatic ombre to yellow then white. In front of the man on his left foot is him by himself with his right leg and arm raised. There is a figure of the pair resting on the woman’s arm raised toward the man. This is all red with both hugging each other. On the black figures own right shoulder is a red version of themselves sitting with their heads hanging.
Technical Decisions:
The artist chose to create the work out of bronze and porcelain. It is not clear which parts are which. The sculpture is in a gallery of sorts with a white wall background on a white pedestal and grey wooded floor. This presentation adds to contrast to the piece. The work would not have the same contrast and thus effect if the black figures were against a black background. While the figure is 3-Dimensional, it is pictured and best viewed from one angle where you can see the faces of all the humans except the man on his own shoulder in red. The composition of the piece brings the viewers eye to the top center where the bright red couple is, the black figures’ faces, then down the left of the sculpture in a C shape.
The Work in the World:
The world at large is filled with heterosexual relationships. The sculpture, despite not showing skin tones, looks like a white couple. The couple also seems wrinkly and the man bald. Thus, an older white man is a negative connotation to many in today’s society. However, I also know that the artist is himself a white man, as are a lot of artists and successful artists placing this in the stereotypical art seen. I think that based off of the clothing – the woman wearing pants, the grips on the shoes – this is a more modern couple struggling – speaking to current individuals in white, heteronormative relationships.
The Story it Tells:
The meaning of the work to me is of a couple’s challenges. I’m not sure if they’ve fallen apart or not. Based off of the many positions of the figures I think that various viewers could deem the couple as better together and sad when alone. Others may see it as struggling together since the main figures on in black and red, colors with negative connotations. To me I see the couple as struggling because of the man. He has one extra figure in the piece, standing in what I see as a goofy position. The second most focal image of the couple – the bright red in the center- is being held up by the woman. I interpret this as the woman holding the relationship together. She’s also holding the next figure your eye is drawn two of the predominantly orange couple in her right hand.