The Hammering Man - Jonathan Borofsky - Essay Example

The Hammering Man Born in Boston in 1942, Jonathan Borofsky is one of the world’s most renowned sculptors; he graduated from the Carnegie Mellon University in 1964 and later studied at Ecole de Fontainebleau in Paris. Yale school of art and architecture awarded him a master’s degree in 1966 and after working in New York and LA for most of his professional life, he moved to Maine hoping to trace his roots in the east coast. He has created a diverse range of artistic works all which encompass his core pursuit that is to count from one to infinity. Among his most popular and globally recognized works is the hammering man, all over the world, there are numerous statues of the hammering man sculpture in different sizes from New York, Japan and Germany (Borofsky). The Seattle man stands at 48 feet and weighs 26,000 pounds, each hammering man has a unique number instead of a name like most artistic work, for example, the man is Seattle is numbered #3277164. The typical hammering man statue is made up of hollow fabricated steel, and mechanized arm made from aluminum and operated by an electric motor, the whole contraption is covered in black automotive paint. The most striking aspect of the hammering man is that unlike other works of art that remain static throughout, the aluminum arm, hammers four times every minute as its run by a 3-hp electric motor set on automatic timing to keep the movement steady. The fact that it is huge and painted black also sets it apart from the rest of the surrounding environment since most are brightly colored and I found its apparent intrusion into the landscape making it even more compelling. The hammering man’s primary significance is its representation of the worker, according to the artist; it celebrates the every worker whether it is a village craftsman, a South African coal miner computer tech in DC or any other individual engaged in work effort. After observing it for a few minutes, I felt that, aside from representing the workers, it also holds a profound philosophical meaning as it helps individuals contemplate on the meanings of their lives. Through the sculpture, people can reflect on their own lives based on their interpretation and how they can relate it with various aspects of their lives (Borofsky). Furthermore, the hammering man despite being fundamentally a machine also attempts to humanize labor by only hammering till evening and taking breaks on Labor Day every year. At the end of the day, while the sculpture/s are crude in comparison to other more traditional forms of art, it there is no doubt that it carries a deep meaning and is very significant both as an artist and humanist symbol. The Rotary Tumble Muharrem Yildirim has a degree in computer science and much of his work is geared towards the enhancement of human and machine interaction, his media for generating art is computer graphics through which he creates interactive works. David Tinapple is an artist and engineer and his work is focused on the creation of tools to gather and analyze media real time media and interactive video environment. They goal of his work is to illuminate those forces that are constantly in action around the human environment and explore assumption humans make in their consideration of the world. These two talented individual pooled their complementary tools to come up with the Rotary Tumble; the main objective was to create a digital object which would be both interactive and physically tangible and to this end, they focused on the physical spinning or tumbling of an object. They contemplated the impact of making the computer aware of the position and motion of a spinning or tumbling body, they assumed that if it is aware of the objects exact projection and motion in real time, it can be accurately mapped in spins. As such, they created what can be termed as a DIY (do it yourself) optical rotary encoder which is made up of black and white strips printed in a radial pattern and carry a digital encoding of the angle of rotation. Through an 8 bit a pattern allowing a 256 revolution of the wheel, the optical pattern can be read through an ordinary web camera and decoded through customized software (David &Muharrem). The wheel is finally projected to a physical stimulation by use of simple objects colliding inside and with each successive collision a synthesized sound is triggered resulting to a series of artistically brilliant and intriguing patterns. Looking at it for the first time, I thought it was relatively simple, however a keener examination and deeper interactions brings to life an intricate pattern of psychics and art. The gravity give an impression of being both natural and spontaneous and the sounds resonate with the basic shapes, looking at the piece is a magical and relaxing experience, almost hypnotic, and it seems to draw one into a different and digital world within the physical one. The Sanctum Walking past the Henry art gallery at the University of Washington, I noticed a new interactive video installation calling to me and when I responded, it virtually created a custom made story for me. Through a computer generated voice, it politely asked for my Facebook data and when I complied I learnt the information is anonymously incorporated in to the demographically tailored list of stories for others who come after me. This is the Sanctum installation which is an interactive commentary on modern society, surveillance as well as self-perception and projection. As pedestrian’s approach, it they are alerted that they will be filmed and they will only be featured on the gallery if they look directly at the one of the 6 cameras round it (Miller). If one agrees to look at the cameras, they see their image in one or more of the 12 screens that can be viewed through the museums windows, the system determines one’s age sex and other details and interposes their picture with Facebook pages and updates from individuals in the same demographic background. It was designed by James Coupe and Juan Pampin; the instructors at the university’s center for Digital arts and experimental media to provide information on how individuals public behavior can be collected and evaluated. I found that the sanctum solicits for one's attention by using their image to lure them in and then directional beaming audio calling out through a male of female voice depending on the sex. When one goes in for a close look (seeing a picture of myself on a huge screen proved quite curiosity arousing), the image is enhanced and bounced back cross the screens. Viewing updates that could as well have been mine brought about a cocktail of conflicting emotions and desires, personally, on one hand I wanted to examine them more closely while on the other I was feeling sort of uncomfortable by the prospect of someone watching me even through it was just a machine. This artwork effectively juxtaposes the surveillance encountered every day in trams, busses streets and offices and which makes one feel as if their privacy is being invaded, with the private information one puts on their social network (Miller). By being confronted with both of this binary realities at the same time, the viewer is forced to re-examine and reflect their attitude and perception towards what is considered private and public information in the modern age. Works Cited Miller, Brian.Visual Arts: Sanctum at the Henry. Seattle News. June 25 2013. Web. 30 Oct. 2013 Yildirim, Muharrem and Tinapple, David. Rotary Tumble 2012. 2012. Web. 30 Oct. 2013 Borofsky, Jonathan. “The Hammering Man. Seattle art Museum. Sam Downtown. Nd. http://www.seattleartmuseum.org/Visit/hammerman.asp Read More