For the Ethnography Project my group chose to investigate the hidden literacy behind some of the sculptures that can be found around campus. The sculpture I chose to investigate was "The Emerging Man" which is located between Cato, Fretwell, and Denny. What I wanted to do was interview people about this piece so I chose to interview both a boy and a girl to see if their responses would be similar or different.
Here is my interview with a guy named Nathan.
Cory: What statement do you think the sculpture makes?
Nathan: Work hard.
Cory: What do you think the theme behind this piece is?
Nathan: Power and Knowledge
Cory: How does this piece make you feel?
Nathan: It makes me feel like as long as I work hard I will be able to achieve something.
Cory: What message do you think the artist was trying to get across with this piece?
Nathan: To persevere through struggle.
After my interview with Nathan I interviewed a girl named Elise.
Cory: What statement do you think the sculpture makes?
Elise: Strength and Power
Cory: What do you think the theme behind this piece is?
Elise: Hercules
Cory: What do you think the theme behind this piece is?
Elise: Empowered, like I could go lift weights.
Cory: What message do you think the artist was trying to get across with this piece?
Elise: Great things come from little things.
I actually really enjoyed doing these interviews because it allowed me to see what other people think about the sculpture. I think with a piece as powerful as this one I think that the responses will be the same between both men and women. I think that it really speaks to the literacy of a piece that the themes of power and strength are so prevalent that you get similar answers when asking questions from various people. I perosnally think the theme of the piece is the struggle to find freedom, but I can see how others can see the theme as strength and power.
Hi Cory,
ReplyDeleteI really liked your title "Hidden Literacy: The Emerging Man", it really caught my attention. The statue also caught my attention (I never saw this sculpture before). Although, I can't really tell what he is doing or trying to do. I think He's trying to break through a rock and maybe the rock symbolizes an obstacle to overcome. I also liked how you incorporated interviews, and just wondering why did you pick this statute?
Wow, Cory, this post was really interesting. Perhaps by interviewing a large number of people you could quantize how good any particular thing as at communicating a specific message! If we really wanted to, that would be cool to look into! Great blog, and I like that you included a picture of the sculpture.
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