Art

I recently unwittingly became an art collector. Because this is my first piece, I would appreciate your thoughts on whether it is a good piece from which to start building a portfolio. Description to follow.

Bigmrjosh

Rather than a painting or wall hanging, I made the bold choice to go for a sculpture. I hope you don’t think me too ostentatious. Emblazoned with the word ‘National’ on its face (whether this is the name of the artist or simply a part of the aesthetic I do not know), you can see that the piece has been fabricated to imitate a modern air conditioner. Masterfully crafted, it is the attention to detail – like the ‘dust particles’ trapped in the ‘brushes’ – that elicit emotion from the viewer, causing them to wonder, ‘in a different time, at a different place, could this really be an air conditioner?’ It is a discomfiting notion, from a bold piece with a bold message. I feel that it simultaneously symbolises man’s struggle to master the elements, along with the endless search to fulfil one’s dreams. The taped wires reference the shackles with which those dreams can bind us, leading us down a path the end of which we fear to reach. The visible innards of the ‘machine’, glimpsed through its metallic case, highlight that vulnerability that all human beings hide just beneath the surface. In my opinion the most confronting element of this piece’s composition is its positioning. It lies prone on the floor. Helpless. Vulnerable. And directly beneath the hooks one would use to install a real air conditioner. Powerful, powerful stuff.

I paid 40,000 yen for this piece of art. Do you like it?