Title: A Monument to Sheep
Year: 2016
Materials: Wood, Plywood, Glue, Styrofoam, Steel, Paint, and Artificial Flowers
Dimensions: 8’ wide x 14’ long x 14’ tall
Title: A Monument to Sheep
Year: 2016
Materials: Wood, Plywood, Glue, Styrofoam, Steel, Paint, and Artificial Flowers
Dimensions: 8’ wide x 14’ long x 14’ tall
“A Monument to Sheep” is a site-responsive installation that responds to the historic site of the Cyclorama, and to its inclusion in the thesis exhibition for MFA candidates at the SMFA, Boston. The installation is designed to engage with the conversations surrounding Master of Fine Arts programs today and with my practice as a public and instillation artist.
Visually, “A Monument to Sheep” looks like a two large Styrofoam sheep resting on top of a traditional style pedestal, which is being engulfed by a colorful mass of artificial flowers. The pedestal is reminiscent of mid nineteenth century pedestals displaying bronze sculptures in Boston. The sheep displayed on the pedestal were created for a public art project I created called “Who Wears Wool” that was on display from October to December 2015 in Fort Point Channel. Recycled artificial flowers will crawl up from the bottom as if ivy growing up the wall of an abandoned building. These flowers reference Cycloramas history as the Boston Flower Exchange. Drawing upon its prior incarnation, “A Monument to Sheep” is given new life within the context of an MFA thesis exhibition through a nod to the history of public artwork, a hint of institutional critique, and a new conversation surrounding environmentalism in the Anthropocene (as defined as “denoting the current geological age, viewed as the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment”).
The installation has two main structural components: the pedestal itself and the sheep above. The pedestal is made of an inner structural core with an exterior surface treatment that mimics a historic plinth. The inner core measures 8’ wide x 14’ long x 4’ tall, and is constructed in the same way as an outdoor deck, using 2’x4’, 16” centers, and structural grade hardware. This structure is encased in CNC routed plywood, to create the appearance of marble molding and other trim details. This construction will hold the 2000lb weight of the sculptures. A gradient of artificial flowers will be pre-glued to the plywood in advance. The sheep sculptures feature a steel armature that will be bolted to the plywood surface on the pedestal. The sheep are pretreated with a fireproof coating. Everything is created modularly so that is can fit thorough the door and assembles within two days.