Gabriel Orozco Research
Uncovering Beauty and Experiencing Wonder
I imagine myself, walking slowly past relics of 20th century post-modernism. The corridor is spaced perfectly; zigzagging up the pathway I catch a glimpse of each work drifting onward towards my fixation. To the left, Warhol’s iconic Campbell’s Soup Can, diagonally across the hallway David Salle’s Good Bye D is suspended. Further and further my eyes wander from left to right, each passing artifact as appealing as the last. With time I make it to the end of the hall. A rounded archway serves as a porter. Am I ready to pay the toll and pass on? Should I turn back around and take one more look at the hanging pieces in the hallway passed? Maybe I should. I don’t know if I’m ready to witness such a beast. Then again, I am here for a reason. Google Image’s thumbnails can only satisfy my curiosity for so long; I need to see this whale. As I move forward, taking a breath of cold, dry, air, the entire room is white as snow. Draped like a linen curtain, the leviathan comes into view. Thin cable wires are bolted to the top of the atrium, my eyes follow with gravity. The cables are fastened intricately to smooth, yellowed bone. My vision broadens. I am awe-struck. Each limb bigger than the next, I cannot even rationalize the size of it. The shadow cast on the floor makes the dimension contrast even more distinct. I’ve stood below such ocean-going mammals before. However, something about this carcass differs from those I’ve seen as a youth in the Natural History Museum, and the New York Aquarium. I look up and see comparable features; The complex fins, the grand rib cage, the broad tail. But, this inexplicable arrangement does not just instill childlike wonder but commands much deeper consideration. A complex crisscrossing of carbon-colored circles cloak the skeleton, protruding branches of rock-hard cartilage and marrow drip of fluidity and gesticulation. I stand beneath the corpse reveling at its magnitude, but the
I imagine myself, walking slowly past relics of 20th century post-modernism. The corridor is spaced perfectly; zigzagging up the pathway I catch a glimpse of each work drifting onward towards my fixation. To the left, Warhol’s iconic Campbell’s Soup Can, diagonally across the hallway David Salle’s Good Bye D is suspended. Further and further my eyes wander from left to right, each passing artifact as appealing as the last. With time I make it to the end of the hall. A rounded archway serves as a porter. Am I ready to pay the toll and pass on? Should I turn back around and take one more look at the hanging pieces in the hallway passed? Maybe I should. I don’t know if I’m ready to witness such a beast. Then again, I am here for a reason. Google Image’s thumbnails can only satisfy my curiosity for so long; I need to see this whale. As I move forward, taking a breath of cold, dry, air, the entire room is white as snow. Draped like a linen curtain, the leviathan comes into view. Thin cable wires are bolted to the top of the atrium, my eyes follow with gravity. The cables are fastened intricately to smooth, yellowed bone. My vision broadens. I am awe-struck. Each limb bigger than the next, I cannot even rationalize the size of it. The shadow cast on the floor makes the dimension contrast even more distinct. I’ve stood below such ocean-going mammals before. However, something about this carcass differs from those I’ve seen as a youth in the Natural History Museum, and the New York Aquarium. I look up and see comparable features; The complex fins, the grand rib cage, the broad tail. But, this inexplicable arrangement does not just instill childlike wonder but commands much deeper consideration. A complex crisscrossing of carbon-colored circles cloak the skeleton, protruding branches of rock-hard cartilage and marrow drip of fluidity and gesticulation. I stand beneath the corpse reveling at its magnitude, but the
Cited: Boullosa, Carmen. "BOMB Magazine: Gabriel Orozco by Carmen Boullosa." Atom. Bombsite, 2007. Web. 08 May 2013. Cotter, Holland. "ART REVIEW | GABRIEL OROZCO; Slicing a Car, Fusing Bicycles and Turning Ideas Into Art." The New York Times. The New York Times, 14 Dec. 2009. Web. 08 May 2013. "Guggenheim." Collection Online. Guggenheim, n.d. Web. 08 May 2013. Helguera, Pablo. "BIOGRAPHY OF A WHALE." InsideOut. N.p., 8 Feb. 2010. Web. 08 May 2013. Schjeldahl, Peter. "Man of the World." The New Yorker. The New Yorker, 21 Dec. 2009. Web. 08 May 2013.