Banishing the Poets
The installation, commissioned for Mark di Suvero’s Socrates Sculpture Park on New York’s East River, was a 7x10 foot egg, made of layers of barbed wire and set in a nest of marsh grasses, backed by its title in large metal letters.
“The
piece was the artist’s response to the censorship of NEA
grantees, just then breaking in the news. She had in mind
Plato’s banishing of the poets from his ideal republic
because of their disruptive abilities. The egg fulfilled its mission of
demonstrating how art can mean many things to many. It became an aviary
and refuge for birds and small animals in the park. At the opening, a
group of blind people gravitated toward the sculpture. It also made an
appearance at a fundraiser for Artists Against Aids. Perhaps most
poignantly, in regard to Bornstein’s earlier work, a young
woman confided that the egg reminded her of her own seductive/violent
relationship with a molesting stepfather. The egg’s
protective image is combined with a threatening appearance that
contradicts the security of parental “home”.
Lucy
Lippard, Sliding into Place, 1998 |
Private
Collection
Materials:
7’ x 10’, barbed wire, rebar, marsh grasses
Commissioned
by:
Commissioned by Socrates Sculpture Park, Queens, New York
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