Description of a Sculpture Essay

Dalby 1
Gabrielle Dalby
English 1010
Instructor RA Haze
28 January 2013
The Thing Detail is an important part of everyday life, though it is more often than not one of the most overlooked aspects of life. People often see detail without actually noticing it, thus what they see is overlooked. For example, in a sculpture named “The Thing,” detail is written all over it, but without a close observation of the details, all that is seen is a piece of junk and no longer useful items stuck together to make a shape. With a closer look, though, The Thing is a unique piece of art that will not easily be forgotten. In my opinion, The Thing is a sculpture that represents a lady, I use this term loosely, in the welding profession. She is reading a book or newspaper while sitting on the Lou. From her slouched position, I believe that she has been there for a while. There is an abundance of different materials used to create this piece of art, though all are a type of metal. On her head is a small welders hat Her head is a small nut attached to a spring, which represents the body or back. Her lower body consists of two larger nuts pieced together. On her face, her nose is created my a spark plug, her ears are horn shaped wires, and her eyes are two little balls hidden behind a gasket part playing the role of reading glasses. She has a pair of mismatched, hoop earrings that I believe are small chains. A long barbed wire is twisted together behind her head to create a braid. Farther down her body, two fishing weights represent sagging breasts and her limbs are made by metal rods bent into the shape of arms and legs. Her choice to
Dalby 2 read is made from a thin sheet of metal carefully designed to look as if it were wrinkled. The tank of the toilet is made from a corner pipe and the toilet seat that she seems reluctant to sit on completely is really the head of a wrench. A spool of thread is used to make the toilet paper holder, and closer inspection shows that it is empty. The last item on The Thing is her underwear. I saved this item for last because I believe it is the most interesting. Her underwear is a thong worn backwards that is made from barb wire. When I examined The Thing, I found that its texture felt rough from rust. I believe that it weighed roughly two or three pounds. The colors of the sculpture varied from a golden copper where it was brazed together to the silver and grey of metal and the auburn brown of rust everywhere else. When The Thing was shifted, one could hear the jingle of The Thing’s earrings as they swayed back and forth. I believe that the motion added to The Thing by the spring us important because it adds animation and life to the sculpture. I see more irony than jokes in The Thing. The irony that I see in the sculpture is that it is of a woman who has a profession that is generally thought of as a man’s profession only. Another piece of irony I see is that the sculpture is of a welder taking a break, though to be created, the artist would have had to work hard to braze, or weld, this piece of art together. This is a humorous form of irony because it made many people laugh, though no one thought of why The Thing was actually funny. I believe that The Thing was created by a humorous, creative feminist. As an artist myself, I can say with truth that the person who made this sculpture is a professional artist. The detail and small pieces show how much time must have been devoted to The Thing. It is not a

Dalby 3 simple process to make something this exquisite. The first step is to brainstorm the design on paper and get an idea of what materials will be needed to construct the sculpture. The next step is to put all of the materials and pieces of the sculpture together, which is called brazing. It takes many years of practice to make a sculpture as detailed and meaningful as The Thing. I have two guesses about the age of the artist. I believe that she is either a young feminist or an old, retired artist. I believe that she makes a living as an artist. I believe that with this sculpture, she is trying to prove the point that women can do anything that men can do. Detail is one of the most overlooked aspects of life. Without it, people would not see the story that is hidden behind everything in life. If we would only look closer, we would see that detail helps us get the point of life, instead of just the picture.