Saturday, July 11, 2009

Citygarden - Tom Otterness' Kindly Geppetto

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A puppet and its creator: many of us know the story of the carpenter Geppetto and Pinocchio, the puppet who wanted to be a real boy. But first he had to prove that he was truthful and knew the difference between right and wrong. Geppetto doesn't look at all kindly with his frowny face; Pinocchio, not yet alive, has a neutral expression. The carpenter is about to whap his creation with a big hammer. Is this an act of creation or destruction? Can we take the violence seriously when the image is constructed of cartoonish spheres, cylinders and a cube, and the figures have only four digits, like Mickey Mouse? Tell us how you interpret this.

Up to Chicago today for the weekend to celebrate Mrs. C's birthday with our son,
Chicago daily photoblogger U "R" Us. He's got a very cool post up today. Always lots to shoot in Chicago.


TOMORROW: All Star fever

5 comments:

Leif Hagen said...

Great sculpture snap, Mr. Arches attorney! Beautiful art! I thought Pinocchio was made of wood, not bronze? Grazie mille - ciao

Virginia said...

I don't know what to think. Looks tres violent to me! Have fun with A. Happy Birthday Mrs. C!
V

Catherine VandeVelde said...

I love his stuff. We have one of his sculptures in KC.

Pyzahn said...

Oh, I'm jealous. Your photos of Citygarden are soooo much better than mine.

Phil Novara said...

I believe the sadness on the creator's expression means destruction. He is destroying his creation not out of dislike, but because he is forced to. The reason we will never know.

I live downtown and have been to City Gardens many times now, how have I missed this sculpture? Which side of CG is it located on?