Pedestal Project

Jenna Teich
Sculptural Wall
Materials: wood, drywall, latex paint

The primary inspiration for this piece came from the supports used on marble in classical sculpture.  For example, Polykleitos’ sculpture, Doryphoros has a large sculpted tree stump obtrusively added behind his leg to support the heavy weight of the marble that would not have been there if made in bronze.  It challenges the viewer with questions: Is the support the sculpture? Is the support for purpose? Or is for both?  So, I transformed a wall, something that is already part of the structure in a room.  However, this particular wall does not serve to display art, it stands alone as an art object with visible wooden supports that are meant to be integrated as part of the sculpture.  Like classical sculpture, it challenges viewers to question the support as sculptural, purposeful, or both.  Since I was going for the idea of a stand-alone wall, I used wood, drywall, and paint to create it.  These materials support the concept of this particular sculpture because they are construction materials used to make something durable and supportive. The paint is merely used for appearance purpose, making the wall appear clean and neat after construction.