I visited the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden, in the City Park, on December 8, 2018. The garden contains more than 64 amazing sculptures, with different creators and historical backgrounds. The sculptures are well maintained, and their environments well kept. The entry was free, making it easy for learners to enter the garden. In the garden, I was guaranteed enough information about the artworks because there were free mobile and audio guides for visitors in the park. The garden is easily accessible as people using cars can easily find their way in, and maneuver readily within the garden. The garden is located in a landscape of pines, live oaks, and magnolias, making it look more attractive and lovely to visitors. I enjoyed seeing the sculptures, and the free guide. I liked the place and the different artworks I saw, and I hope to return there soon.
My desirable artwork was the Travelin' Light, created by African American Artist Alison Saar. The artwork is number 54 in the Besthoff Sculpture Garden. The work was created in 1999, as a reminder of the torturers experiences the victims of terror and violence passed through. Travelin’ Light is a man’s sculpture; the entire sculpture is made of bronze. The man is officially dressed, in a long-sleeved shirt, trousers, putting on a cap and is bare feet. The sculpture is hanged upside down using a chain from a metallic bar supported by two metallic posts from each end; the man though seems to be suffering, looks brave and relaxed, even in that torturers position the man is still holding himself as a soldier with his hands to his sides and the legs put together. The work is located in an isolated place close to a water pond, the surrounding is green, but brown below the sculpture. The work is made in form of a bell if the chain is pulled from the back a deep mourning sound is heard.
The artist used contrast in her work, the face of the sculpture seems much brighter than any part of the artwork; the brightness of the face attracts people, and hence, people can easily notice the feeling of the hanged person. There is a lot of emphasis on the legs and the face of the sculpture; this was visible from the variation of color in the whole body of the work. The man, from the look of the work, has official cloths meaning that the person was living in a modern time, a time of shoes and clothes. Therefore, lack of shoes only shows more suffering the person was undergoing, people thus feel sorrier to the person, and hence get more attracted to the sculpture. The work has been created from bronze, which is dark in color. The dark color makes artwork inclined towards the suffering of the colored people. The dark color can also be used to predict the sufferings people were undergoing during the 1990s.
The sculpture was inspired by the historical injustices colored people were experiencing during the 1990s. Alison Saar was a woman who grew up knowing the prejudice women suffer in the society. Also, the artists knew of the discrimination and suffering the black people experienced. In order to tell the stories of sufferings the blacks undergo, she decided to use the sculptures of which Travelin’ Light is one of them. The hanged man is a man at war, fighting for his or a people’s right, and therefore, the sculpture had to be made with a brave face even in the worst situations. The work can be placed under the theme of freedom and social change, the hanged person is a black person fighting for the freedom of black people, and also agitating for a social change.
At first look I ignored the sculpture, I do not always like negative attitudes like the sculpture was portraying. The sculpture was hanged like a person attempting suicide, but the mourning sound produced by the sculpture when another person touring the garden pulled the chain captured my attention. As I neared the sculpture, I was struck by the color variation, the face of the sculpture was bright and the facial expression was also visible. The texture of the body of the sculpture was fine and put into great shape signifying that the person was dressed in his official clothes and maybe performing an official duty. The art gave me a feeling of the types of injustices the sufferers of violence faced in the past. The artwork reminded me of the historical injustices I learned in history, how the slaves were mistreated and black people were victimized, and how the blacks fought for their freedom. Also, the work reminded me of racial prejudice students of color experience in learning institutions. The image is still relevant today because various people are still fighting to achieve liberty of expression and other forms of rights.
Work Cited
https://www.google.com/search?q=sydney+and+walda+besthoff+sculpture+garden,+city+park&client=firefox-b&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiFm67ryJLfAhXfRhUIHT4uBT0Q_AUIDigB&biw=898&bih=589#imgrc=AIoiIgtWvjGWzM:
