Feats of Strength – Tom Otterness

In his work Feats of Strength, Tom Otterness undeniably plays with the setting in which his art is on display: a beautifully green, lively, pacific northwestern university campus. The little people he sculpted noticeably correlate with the “islands” of land amidst red brick around them. We noticed a visual difference in the brick colors around the sculptures and that the hills of grass appeared to be interacting with the characters as they worked toward building something. As we researched, we began to understand just what that was. The piece is a representation of the life in San Juan Islands during the time of its creation (1999).Constructed in the late 90s, Feats of Strength could be identified as site-Construction sculpting in the postmodern movement, though Otterness lived through and participated in punk visual art throughout the 70s. Punk steeped in shock value and revered what was considered ugly. The whole look of punk was designed to disturb and disrupt the happy complacency of the wider society, and the attitudes of this movement undoubtedly shaped Otterness’s opinions and perceptions of the world, perhaps seeding his later desires to sculpt for social justice, acting with the intention of change.

Tom Otterness is well recognized as a “social justice” sculptor, using his space and the public domain as a platform to generate conversation. He juxtaposes his childlike sculptures with underlying controversial issues, and understanding his reputation of such makes us wonder what conversation he was trying to generate on a university campus, scattered across the miniature San Juan Islands.

This conversation that he generated was at first largely critical, as the sculptures seemed to be an inappropriately childlike creation in the middle of an academic institution. Individuals embark on university to delve into the world of academia and prestige–to grow into leaders of society and the thinkers of tomorrow–and it seemed nearly mocking that Otterness designed art well suited for a children’s playground.

Because college students are in a constant balancing act of management, metaphorically weighed (hence the large boulders held by many of the characters in the scene) under the burden of their place in the world, the daunting future, a heavy workload, and the outstanding costs of a higher education, we’d like to think that the people Tom Otterness has sculpted are meant to be representations of our uphill battle during this 4-year period. We work with others to balance the burden, carrying it all together, only to realize someone was riding on top of our efforts for the duration of the hardship. Sometimes we want to lay in the sun. Not only do these sculptures present the foundation for this idea–a parallel to the struggles university students face–but maybe their childlike manner is best suited in their environment as a bit of a laugh, a bit of childlike happiness, a reminder that there’s always room in our lives for a bit of imagination.

His sculptures could additionally parallel Sisyphus, the mythological Greek king of Ephyra, punished for his self-aggrandizing craftiness and deceitfulness by being forced to roll an immense boulder up a hill, only to watch it come back to hit him, repeating this action for eternity. Sometimes we’re pushing our boulders uphill like Sisyphus, struggling to keep our obligations and burdens in check and moving forward, and suddenly it rolls all the way back down the hill and we must start over again.

“You think you are making something, and then you put it out in the public, and you see it’s understood in a very different way. As an artist, you learn from public reaction.” -Otterness

 

Artist: Tom Otterness- Basic Bio

Tom Otterness was born in Wichita Kansas in 1952. At the age of eighteen, the young artist made his way over to New York City where he went to pursue his passion in the arts. He began his studies in the Arts Students League and then in 1973 he continued developing his skills in the Whitney Independent Study Program.

His began career working alongside different independent artists. He developed his style as a “punk artist” early on and gained funds through selling small sculptures at “Artist Space” in New York with other artists for as little as five dollars. In 1980 Otterness had his first claim to fame through his lead work in  the creation of “The First Avant- Garde Art Show of the 80’s” in Time Square.

Since then he has created more than three dozen controversial public commissioned pieces, mainly throughout New York City in libraries, subway stations, parks, plazas, museums- even a balloon for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. In

At the age of 64, Otterness is still an active member of the New York art community and continues creating installation pieces, one of which is located on Western Washington University’s campus.

 

Post collaboration brought to you by:

Chloe Bambrick and Mayzie Shaver