.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
In characteristic fashion, Gormley has used his own body as the template for Total Stranger III, creating a form that is both archaic and contemporary.
This work was conceived as part of a larger community based project of sculptures that were placed throughout the urban landscape of Cologne. As Gormley explains, "my idea for this experiment was to test the body in art against urban, lived, space. The sculptures do not take their belonging to the world for granted, they are trying to find their place in it and they do not take the act of standing as a given; they are learning to stand. While being moulded I was trying to be conscious of being upright and in rebuilding the moulds I had to build a structure that would stand. One of the reasons for making one piece lie was to make the point about not taking the standing of the statue for granted. It was also important to underline the object-nature of the work, its status as thing-in-the-world, its potential and its dormancy." (A. Gormley, in exh. cat., Antony Gormley, Total Strangers, Cologne 1997, pp.21-22.)
In Total Strangers III, Gormley uses his sculpted body as a conduit for silent communication. "The body is language before language. When made still in sculpture it can be a witness to life". This figure, so familiar and at the same time so unreachable, stands resolutely in our midst, forcing the viewer to use..."the space of art to face ourselves." (ibid pp. 21-22).
This work was conceived as part of a larger community based project of sculptures that were placed throughout the urban landscape of Cologne. As Gormley explains, "my idea for this experiment was to test the body in art against urban, lived, space. The sculptures do not take their belonging to the world for granted, they are trying to find their place in it and they do not take the act of standing as a given; they are learning to stand. While being moulded I was trying to be conscious of being upright and in rebuilding the moulds I had to build a structure that would stand. One of the reasons for making one piece lie was to make the point about not taking the standing of the statue for granted. It was also important to underline the object-nature of the work, its status as thing-in-the-world, its potential and its dormancy." (A. Gormley, in exh. cat., Antony Gormley, Total Strangers, Cologne 1997, pp.21-22.)
In Total Strangers III, Gormley uses his sculpted body as a conduit for silent communication. "The body is language before language. When made still in sculpture it can be a witness to life". This figure, so familiar and at the same time so unreachable, stands resolutely in our midst, forcing the viewer to use..."the space of art to face ourselves." (ibid pp. 21-22).