The new statues of Walter Johnson, Josh Gibson, and Frank Howard have been panned by most, but I'll tell you what... I kinda like 'em. You gotta let your eyes follow the motion suggested by the multiple arms, bats, etc. It's like a flip-book. I know it's a little goofy if you stand there looking at it literally, thinking, why does Walter Johnson have three arms? But if you step back and let your eyes move from the first arm to the second and the third, following Big Train's pitching motion, it's kinda cool.
If you don't quite get it at first, try it after a few tokes. That might help.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
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If you look at the statues without knowing any of the technical errors that have occurred in making them, they really aren't that bad. I just can't get past the whole Frank Howard with an Ernie Banks bat,and wearing the wrong number. These are things that could have been prevented with some quality control.
The problem with the statues is not the multiple arms, bats and balls, it's that whooshy crap connecting them, the stuff that's supposed to evoke motion. Well, all it does is make the statues look like someone slimed them and then bronzed it. The viewer can and would figure out the whole motion aspects of the statues just from the multiple appendages and implements. The slime just muddies things up. The other problem with it is that it's the only part of the statues that is rendered impressionistically or abstractly. Everything else, including the multiple arms and bats, is rendered realistically. A fully realistic statue would work, as would a fully impressionistic/abstract statue. A mixture of the two just doesn't work, and indeed serves only to make the whole less than the sum of its parts.
And of course the factual errors on Hondo's uniform and bat are inexcusable.
I thought the same thing last night. When you are far away, they actually look pretty cool.
I agree completely about the statues. In the first photos I saw, I only thought Gibson's worked and didn't care for the other two. But after seeing them in person, I really liked them all.
The statues make you stop and think- which is what good art is supposed to do.
When I first saw this I thought... why the hell are they all deformed? If I didn't have an article to go with it I would have never figured it out and would have chalked the error up to the same company who did the jersey snafu the other night. I think they suck. Some artist trying to make a name for themselves and be different. Anyways... Try explaining this to your kids. I'm sure they'll get it. I'll just tell them... "That's what made them so great back then Son!" We've got to take steroids today to break their records ;-)
What were people expecting - Rodin? I still want to know what happened to the giant baseball that was suppose to be atop the Red Loft. I fully expect to see a large Exxon/Mobil oil can up there one day.
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