WP3: Cursory Analysis

My assigned art object is titled "Monet's Table (from the Lilypad Series)." It was created by the artist Michael Todd (left), who sculpts with a variety of materials including wood, steel, bronze, and clay. In this case, Todd uses steel to compose this entire piece of art. As the name suggests, Monet's Table takes the form of an actual table; however, it's shaped a bit differently than most modern tables. The top surface is formed buy two layers of circular panels. The top layer overlaps parts of the bottom layer, and various empty spaces are present between each of the circular panels. The table is held up by three legs, each forming a different shape. The most interesting leg, in my opinion, is made of two arcs, reaching past the top surface of the table, welded to the outer edge. The next leg is a somewhat wide cylinder, only half of which can be seen from above the table. The last leg, perhaps the least interesting, was a simple, flat rectangle; it was, however, positioned in an odd manner so that just a corner was attached to the top of the table.

I think the most important aspect of all these pieces is the contrast between the top of the table and the legs. The top surface of the table creates visual unity through repition of shapes, or, or specifically, circular panels. The legs of the table break this visual unity via contrasting shapes. The color, texture, and material, on the other hand, support this uniformity of the table; the entire steel piece is grey and a bit rusted, giving it a weathered appearance.

Another important aspect of this piece is its position amongst its surroundings. First of all, there are many picnic tables and benches in the area, which can signify that this location is one of social gathering--a place to meet and look at the art perhaps. However, Monet's table is placed lower than the picnic tables, giving it more of a coffee table appearance. It's cold, rough, and jagged, which makes it sort of uninviting, contradicting its purpose as a table.

More importantly, I feel, the table is positioned half way under a bridge. I noticed that, even as I sat and observed this piece of art, the shadow that was cast by the bridge slowly moved across the surface of the table as the sun moved through the sky, emphasizing the changing environment in which the table is placed. I'm not sure if it was positioned under the bridge for this reason, but it might have some importance to the context. The title here is extremely important. Monet was a famous artist who advocated the Impressionist style in his paintings. Also, as the title of this art object suggests, Monet created a series of paintings depicting water-lilies. From this, I can understand that the circular steel panels making the tabletop are supposed to be lily pads. Perhaps the lack of detail in these lily pads is an important aspect of Impressionism?