Ron Mueck Art Analysis Essay Example

sculpture is the sheer certainty that this Giant is real, and he most definitely appears to be so.

Ron Mueck has created a perfect representation of life. Every hair, wrinkle and skin discolouration is placed with upmost care and control. This initial fear is enunciated by humanities fear of the unknown, and the way this hyperrealism makes one second guess what they are perceiving. But It is not the shock factor of the work one feels fleetingly, but the underlying meanings and hidden concepts being quietly argued that is most impressive. These concepts being; humanities fear of the unusual, and thus humanities fear of itself and humanities interest and curiosity for the unusual.

Publications like 'Guinness World Book of Records', though not demeaning in tone, celebrate and, put those that are different on a 'hypothetic pedestal'. People can stare and converse (like the Wildman) about peculiarities of the human race, without having to confront these people themselves. This 'Human reaction' is the recurring theme in the underlying meanings of 'Wildman'. The Folklore behind the 'Wild men' , is mentioned to be an inspiration for this sculptural work. Back in the 12th century people saw them crudely as 'animals' or' monsters' that haunted the woods and endangered lives.

What they did not realise was that they had created 'monsters'. They has created them through imagination, rumour and in practise. 'Wild men' (or women) were humans, ejected and shunned from villages for being 'mad' (most likely mental disability). These people were forced to survive in woods, out in the elements and even then, and were hunted, shunned and feared by their own kind. Mueck

has perfected the art of capturing reality, even more impressively, through sculpture. Even when it is larger than life or smaller, he successfully fools us into this second-guessing of reality itself and of the sculpture's reality.

Ron Mueck's work 'Wildman', though larger than life mimics reality perfectly. One can respect the planning and studying that would have gone into such a project. What is most impressive, however, is the way Mueck's works make one think. After the viewing of the piece imprints on the mind, one goes away wondering what is reality and what is illusion and pondering what is truly possible in our world and in creation. Willow Sizer. Ron Mueck, Big Man, 2000. Mixed media, A man sits in a corner, he is hairless, naked, rotund and middle-aged.

His legs are brought up to chest height, one leans against the wall with the rest of the right side of his body. His head rests on a closed hand, disappearing behind the head and concealing the right ear. The elbow is supported by the right knee of one of his folded legs. His other hand rests in the crook of the right arm, the elbow of this arm, supported by the left knee. His round stomach is gently indented by the thighs that are pressed against it, his navel protrudes from the smoothness of the surrounding belly. Between the stomach and private area is a shadowed fold where the belly meets the lower body.

The toes of his large feet are slightly bent inward, with only the largest toes remaining flat against the ground. His skin tone is pale, with slight

pink discoloration in the usual places, such as the area underneath the nose, natural blush of the cheeks and ears. The added freckles and more slight facial discolorations create a perfected reality simulation. His eyes, partly shadowed by the overhanging brow are turned to the left drawn to something in the distance. His face is creased with the lines of age, more heavily indented around the main facial features, then fading into thinner lines as they move away from them.

Upon his face is a complicated expression, one which be interpreted as frustration or anger, for the brow is slightly furrowed and one side his mouth is upturned with the impression of the hand that supports the face. Alternatively the expression could be interpreted as one of thinking, of concentration and of pondering. The traditional stance of the 'David' a (man supporting his head as he thinks) is reiterated faintly in the work. Though the work is unsettling to view at first, for one never sees a nude overweight man, the there is no feeling of repulsion or disgust.

He sits neither provocatively or disturbingly, he is simply lost in his own thoughts. One feels as if one has intruded on a private moment of internal conversation. There is a peaceful and satisfied feeling to the sculpture. Possibly due to the fact that he looks well fed, or because he looks satisfied and well grounded in his position. In his expression he is not longing or needing anything, or wanting something out of his reach. He is not afraid of the vulnerability that accompanies nudity, or of the piercing eyes of the audience

that views him, indeed he seems ignorant of all that is around him, and this ignorance is accompanied by bliss.