WP3: Rough Draft

This sculpture was made by William King and goes by the name of Story. King is an American sculptor and artist who was born in 1925, and focuses his work on the figurative portrayal of human figures. In 2007, he was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award given by the International Sculpture Center (Wikipedia).Made in 1970; Story is a representation of William King himself. “Smoking my last cigarette and yakking away. I’m talking about giving up smoking,” says King about his sculpture (Sheldon Sculpture Garden Brochure). By observing this piece, there are many different elements to consider such as the purpose, environment, audience, and context. I also find that this sculpture brings off a sense of accomplishment from life goals. Because this sculpture represents King, putting an end to smoking must have been an important event in his life.

Giving up an addiction, like smoking, is a very difficult thing to do. By putting this sculpture in a public location, King can develop a stronger connection with his audience from the wide variety of people passing through. Since Story can relate to those who smoke, or have smoked in the past, a sense of pathos is developed. Another aspect to look at includes the material in which this sculpture was constructed. Story is made from purely aluminum; the most abundant metal in the Earth’s crust (L., John). Aluminum is a very lightweight metal which is also easily worked with to shape. Being that this element is soft, durable, non magnetic, inexpensive, and does not corrode; it seems like the perfect material to use for a sculpture. I think King used aluminum for this sculpture for all of these reasons. Also, being that aluminum is fully recyclable, it relates to King’s life being recycled as well from his quitting smoking. Story does not contain any harsh elements that could be harmful, or unrelated to its natural environment.

The location of Story and the environment in which it is set in also gives off importance. Story is located between the Sheldon Museum of Art and the Lied Center for Performing Arts. Because this sculpture is part of the Sheldon Sculpture Garden, there are also other sculptures which can be found nearby. The sculptures Torso and Floating Figure form a sort of triangle with Story. When looking at the three of these sculptures and comparing them, you can notice the size difference ranging from thin to medium to larger. Story starts off this triangle being the thinnest, followed by Torso which takes part in a medium and curvier female body, and lastly Floating Figure which is the largest of the three and is almost over dramatic in appearance of a body.

Looking at the design of Story, you will notice that the figure is very thin and uses a cardboard cutout type of effect. There are only three pieces which make up this sculpture; the body, removable right arm, and removable leg. The limbs of the body are paid more attention to because they remain perpendicular to the body itself, excluding the left arm which is attached to the body. I think that by creating a perpendicular view of this piece, shading is used to help illustrate the various body parts. When looking at the arms, they both possess different qualities. For starters, the left arm remains connected to the body and acts as a type of support in holding the body up. There are no details of the hand either; it acts almost like a nub. The right arm is placed onto the body by a provide slot in which it slides into. The disconnected body parts are in no way permanently attached and they can be wiggled. The right arm is the one in which holds the cigarette, and is also bent at the elbow. You may also notice that this arm contains two fingers; to hold the cigarette as a human would.

The face of this sculpture is not detailed with any facial features what-so-ever, which I find to be extremely odd. Being that Story holds the main purpose of a man and his last cigarette while chatting, you would think the face would contain at least a mouth. Without a mouth present, there is no direct evidence that this sculpture is smoking, except for the cigarette, or even talking. Although Story is related to a human figure, there is a lot lacking. Aside from the various missing facial features, we also need to take into consideration the size of this sculpture. Story is 12-feet tall, and would be much taller standing straight up, and is less than an inch thick. The proportions for this human-like body are way off in length, width, and height all together. The beauty about sculptures is that you do not have to be anatomically correct, but can still develop a sense of what the meaning is. We know that humans have facial features, two legs, and are generally not 12-feet tall, but looking at this sculpture we can still tell it is of human meaning.

All-in-all this sculpture is obviously trying to tell a story. Although we may not all agree in what exactly is being told, I think it is up to the audience to decide how they can relate to it. I personally feel that this sculpture was created because of a mile-marker in William King’s life because he accomplished a goal to quit smoking. Before Story was created, King smoked more than a pack a day until 1971 (Sculpture Brochure). If an event in a person’s life has great importance, they may want to find a way to share it with others. I think this was King’s way of sharing his story.

Works Cited

L., John. (n.d.). What Is the Most Abundant Metal on Earth? Retrieved December 6, 2009, from eHow: http://www.ehow.com/about_4587197_what-abundant-metal-earth.html

Wikipedia. (December, December 4). Aluminum. Retrieved December 4, 2009, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminum

Sculpture Brochure. Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery and Sculpture Garden, n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2009. http://www.sheldonartgallery.org/photos/graphics/sculpturebrochure.pdf