Sunday, February 5, 2012

Giant head

this is one of the 2 gigantic baby heads that are flanking the back entrance of the museum of fine arts in boston. we were there today, and as it was quite sunny and not too cold, i once again tried to picture these sculptures... one has its eyes open, and the other, above, has its eyes closed. they are bronze, and weigh  just 1.6 tons at 8 feet tall.  the sculpture is titled "night and day", and made by Antonio Lopez Garcia.
about every time that we go to this museum (and thats pretty often. although we only go when we can go for free. that is, on wednesday evenings or the first weekend of the month with our bank card), i take pictures of these heads, but im usually not very successfull. they are just sooooo big, and it is such a weird piece of art... when i saw them first i thought there was something wrong with me. i passed by in a bus and wondered if i really saw what i just saw. when i really saw them, a few weeks later, i didnt like them at all. now im not so sure anymore. for sure they are interesting! perhaps one day i will like them... (probably when i am able to photograph them in a way that i am satisfied..)

10 comments:

PerthDailyPhoto said...

I think you've done a great job here Cat, love the perfectly synchronized row of mallard ducks (I could be wrong about the type)and the lady bending slightly to read the blurb. It's quite a different idaea for a sculpture. Nice work!

Andy said...

I find the head weird looking. That's just my personal feelings. Maybe someday they will become a mystery like the Easter Island statues.

biebkriebels said...

The photo is great, because of the woman you can imagine how big the head is. But I must agree with you, it is a rather weird sculpture. Don't know what to think about it. Is it there for ever or just for an exhibition?

Manon said...

The Canadian geese ;) in the front and the lady on the right indeed show how big that baby head is. The two heads combined are a memorial for the victims of the 2004 terrorist bombs in Madrid, Spain. The ones in Boston are preliminary versions of the memorial at Atocha train station, Madrid. See: http://www.scribd.com/doc/34199657/National-Treasure-Antonio-Lopez-Garcia-at-the-MFA-Boston-review-in-Apollo-magazine-UK-by-Jonathan-Lopez

Nellies said...

I think I must like 'weird' things, because I love this sculpture, haha. Think you did a great job taking this photo CaT, I know it can be so difficult to photograph such big sculptures in a great way. Have a nice day!!

Kay said...

It's a little disturbing to see a disembodied baby head, not to mention one so big. It helps to have Manon's explanation. Interesting shot!

Tim said...

i would say it makes it more disturbing to know that they are connected to actual killings.. but i was never disturbed by this artwork at all, either with our without Manon. But i do think the baby heads are interesting.. but a little ugly.

CaT said...

thanks!
i really thought of them as ugly, weird and disturbing the first time i saw them, but over time it got better.. :) and yesterday they were even quite interesting. i think i will take some more picture some other time, perhaps a close-up to show you! :)

however, these baby heads were NOT made for the terrorist bombing at a madrid train station in 2004. lopez garcia is a madrid-based artist, who was inspired by the birth of his grandchildren for these baby-heads. he modelled portraits of the head of his second grandchild, when she was a few months old. one while she is awake, and one where she is asleep. the tiny (!) portrait busts were cast in bronze on a monumental scale upon request by the spanish government. indeed, to place them as memorial to the victims of the bombings, and their preliminary, slightly smaller versions are the ones placed at the back entrance of the MFA in boston....
as for me, i think its a little weird that those 2 heads are placed as a memorial for terrotist bombings, while they were not originally made for that purpose. (the original ones are really tiny, perhaps smaller than a baby head, but im not sure. unfortuntately i cannot find when he made those... fact is he only reproduced them on gigantic scale because the government asked him to do so. would be curious to find out who came up with that idea exactly...

Manon said...

Ah OK. Always interesting to see how the audience (Spanish government in this case) can read something entirely different in a piece of art than what the artist (proud grandpa capturing beauty of grandchildren) intended in the first place. Or isn't it that different: innocent baby 'translates' to innocent victims. And the size? Maybe they blew it out of proportion to emphasize how ridiculous a bombing is. Or would it just be because one would easily overlook the tiny versions if the original size was used ;)

Jack said...

This thing is amazing. I was at MFA this summer and missed it. How could I miss such a sculpture?