Statues and the American Dream

          Several years ago, on a trip to Rome, I was introduced to the art of living statues. These "statues" are created by street performers who paint themselves in stone or metallic coats. They stand still all day in a busy street or plaza, only changing position upon receiving tips from onlookers. I was awestruck by this practice. Not only was it impressive to see such dedication and talent in these street artists, but the art form itself was so unique. The performer was there to receive tips from the onlookers, and the onlookers would only tip after being impressed by the performers. They needed each other to gain this experience. Furthermore, the artists react to being tipped, the create a new persona immediately after gaining validity and appreciation. This kind of relationship is mirrored in American society and captured in American photographs. Even if a subject in a photograph is unaware of the cameraman, they are still emanating a specific persona. They may change that for the next picture, but in that captured moment, they are confined to their emotions, their surroundings, and their character. This is evident in both Allinder's and Guidmond's writings. Guidmond specifically talks about creating drama in ordinary situations. He talks about photographing "normal" people and places and putting a spin on them. Similarly, a statue may be an ordinary object, but a human statue is not. Just like the subject in the photograph, they are a canvas for which the onlooker to mold and shape. Whether this is through photography or tipping, the concept is the same.

The idea to take this picture came to me while I was walking through the pedestrian mall in downtown Iowa City. The statue of the three jazz musicians brought back memories of the living statues of Rome. I began to think about how I could incorporate the ideas behind living statues into this project. I, of course, could not find a real living statue artist for this project, so I decided to go in the complete opposite direction. I had a friend who plays trumpet dress in her everyday clothes and pose along with the statue. I wanted to show the contrast between the three older males that the statue portrays and my friend, a nineteen-year-old girl in her second year of college. She mirrors the trumpeter on the right, but she feels more relaxed, more at ease. I wanted to show a contrast in their age, gender, and pose to reflect the fact that music, like all art, can bond people across generations, regardless of their backgrounds. She may not be in the exact same place in life that the models of this statue were in at the time of its sculpting. In fact, music may be the only similarity between them. However, even across all these years, an art form connects them. To me, that is what the American dream is all about. We live. We grow. We pass down what we have learned to the next generation. In America, the years go by, but the willpower to learn and to teach never ages.