Aaron Spangler
A Little Indian
2005
Carved and painted maple
30.5 x 17.8 x 20.3 cm |
This small, free-standing sculpture portrays the ruins of a last frontier. Above the listless body of a robot, fallen in battle, the head of a native American sits impaled on a tree like a hunting trophy. A torrent of water, meanwhile, flows through the stationary remains of a carriage, the galloping spaceship of its time familiar to viewers of Western films. The addition of a modern flush-toilet, the housing around which appears to have been destroyed, confuses the scene further, leading the viewer to question the essence of the rural landscape. The uniform black coat applied to the work's surface serves to remove any hierarchy that might otherwise exist among the various objects that can be identified. |