Blog Post 18: cursory analysis for WP3

William King's sculpture, Story, is of a 12-foot tall man smoking a cigarette. "Smoking my last cigarette and yakking away. I'm talking about giving up smoking, " says King. The sculpture is a representation of King himself who smoked a pack a day until 1971. This sculpture was made in 1970, so perhaps this was a marker of a soon-to-be accomplishment. William King is a contemporary American sculptor, born in 1925. His work mostly focuses on the human figure and can be seen in various states throughout the country. During the years of 1994 to 1998, he served as the president of the National Academy of Design (Wikipedia). In 2007, King was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award given by the International Sculpture Center (Wikipedia).

The sculpture is made only from aluminum and is put together like cardboard cut-outs would be. I think that the choice of using aluminum for this piece, and how the sculpture is put together, uses shading to help illustrate the various body parts. Looking at this piece I first noticed the giant leg coming out from the body itself. There is only one leg on this sculpture, and it is inserted into a slotted area through the midsection of the figure. There are two arms present and one of them is also in a slotted area like the leg. The arm which is placed in the slot is also the one which posesses the man's cigarette. As for the other arm, it is connected to the main body and is not as detailed as the other. The attached arm's hand does not contain fingers, but more of a ball-like fist instead.

The appearance of the body seems to be well defined and curvy with detail. It is easy to point out where the kneecap, ears, and other various joints are located. The arms and leg all have a bend to them, taking on a more human like form instead of a stiff one. However, they do seem to be a a little unproportional to the rest of the body. This definitly calls more attention to these specific parts. I think that this sculpture is trying to focus more on movement than anything else. The rest of the body is sort of left to a blank. We do not know what the man looks like, except from looking at a picture of the author himself, becasue there are no facial features except for his ears. No mouth, nose, eyes, or bone structure. I think that the sculpture gives off a vibe of freedom and self independence. The man is very laid back looking and holds his cigarette knowing it is his last. He makes his own choices.

Works Cited

Wikipedia. (2008, November 3). William King (artist). Retrieved November 17, 2009, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_King_(artist)