this is the sculpture that is inspiring this new piece, the head above will be the head of my very own she wolf that will be a part of a larger installation that involves a second figure. The original she wolf sculpture was shown to me in an art history class, told with the fun fact that this had been its own sculpture, and that the twins, Romulus and Remus, had been added afterward. I dont know if that's true or not...but it was originally one of the reasons I took a liking to this sculpture.
 | |
| Year | 13th and late 15th century AD or c. 500-480 BC |
|---|---|
| Type | Bronze |
| Dimensions | 75 cm (30 in) |
| Location | Musei Capitolini, Rome |
The twelfth-century English cleric Magister Gregorius wrote a descriptive essay De Mirabilibus Urbis Romae[11] and recorded in an appendix three pieces of sculpture he had neglected: one was the Wolf in the portico at the principal entrance to the Vatican Palace. He mentions no twins, for he noted that she was set up as if stalking a bronze ram that was nearby, which served as a fountain. The wolf had also served as a fountain, Magister Gregorius thought, but it had been broken off at the feet and moved to where he saw it.[12]
The present-day Capitoline Wolf could not have been the sculpture seen by Benedict and Gregorius, if its newly attributed age is accepted, though it is conceivable that it could have been a replacement for an earlier (now lost) depiction of the Roman wolf. In December 1471 Pope Sixtus IV ordered the present sculpture to be transferred to the Palazzo dei Conservatori on the Capitoline Hill, and the twins were added some time around then.
The original image of this ancient Etruscan she-wolf, owned by the Capitoline Museum in Rome, dates from 500 B.C. (The original Etruscan babies were lost long ago and were replaced during the Renaissance period with the present images of Romulus and Remus, which accounts for the difference in sculptural styles.) The she-wolf is the symbol of Rome and is known as the 'Lupa Romana,' or the 'Wolf of Rome,' because she is credited with saving the lives of Romulus and Remus, founders of Rome. The story of Romulus and Remus, twin sons of Mars and Silva, comes from ancient mythology. To save their lives, Silva floats them down a river in a basket and the she-wolf rescues them.
Generally speaking, to give you a feel for the kind of theme the installation will have, I offer this:
So to give you a layout--- The first figure ( affectionately known as "Gertie" here in the apartment)is a collaged woman kneeling(with a hopeless expression? --the collage on her is what I would call emotionally charged, but thats simply my opinion) on the ground. Im thinking there needs to be some plants and reeds around her(Which I have); she's kneeling by a river possibly(ties into the Romulus and Remus mythology reference!!!!). My feeling is she's kneeling there having one of those moments in life, when everything is falling apart and you're in complete pain, emotionally, mentally, physically, maybe there's some numbing, as you'll see on Gert's face...assuming you've had those moments and know what I'm talking about. Is she running from something?---
(Think of Jenny & Forrest Gump in the cornfied)
---Was she just attacked or injured(what was the causal event for her ending up by the rirver?). Is this installation a scene of some kind and if so....is there other scenes somewhere else in the gallery??? ;D The lighting should be relatively dark I would say, I want there to be a spotlight on her from above, this needs to be a gray scene in emotion and physical space, the reeds and plants are dried and dead.
(On a side note, as a kid, my grandparents would take me and my sister to the Museum of Natural History in NYC. And of course it would be a big adventure day, 'oh how special we're all in the Museum' etc etc...I loved it.
I love the nature exhibits; I mean think of it, the tiniest little box of space in some big warehouse sized room is transformed into, really, a window into a whole other world.
And the best part is-- its all an illusion, you make it. Oh the possibilities.
These are some of my favorite memories, forever rooted into my soft little four to six year-old brain. Now I can appreciate aesthetically why that is and how it is made. I have been wanting to incorporate it into my art...and now I can! So I say, why do you have to limit it to a Museum, why cant I just make one because I want to? It's not a new idea I'm sure. But honestly, I don't care, this idea has roots all over the place for me, how wonderful!)
Back to the point though, it's been my observation that people like to escape reality. Not really surprising, I think its pretty obvious given our media culture and drug industries. But they do seem to learn things better, pay more attention to details and messages when engaging those ideas in alternate reality settings(think of children's television, MTV, news shows, those baby videos that teach infants to read...video games, stupid movies--honestly, how many Presidents of the United States names can you recite vs. famous movie lines? Do you see where I'm going with this? I think they just like being somewhere different. Gertie has a very specific message to convey&I would say just from looking at her, definitely would exist in a space of some kind, not just alone I think. If I could extend the energy from her into an immersing theme, space that you could physically walk into with a common focus, I think you would have to get some kind of empathetic interaction with the piece, if only to understand what it is you're inside and looking at.
That's Gertie, but then there's the She Wolf. Im making her some pup/kids...if you look at my sculptures and look at the word "pupkid" they look exactly like how they sound. Little baby she wolves, Mama is after all, a signature fertile female creature, and I think its important given the reference again, to the Roman She Wolf sculpture. There's definitely a theme of something here, mothers and daughters/offspring, sisters, related kin. So I think they fit nicely. There will be four of them. There's also a connection for me here of the twins Romulus and Remus, and two other sets of twin pairs(brothers and sisters) Castor, Pollux, Helen, and Clytemnestra in mythology(though I have to get back to you on specifics of that reference). Personally speaking, I am in fact a Gemini, so I admit some predisposition for twins, but, wouldn't that make the piece all the more personal?And isn't that a good thing, even if no one else sees/knows the reference? Plus, Romulus and Remus are the sons of Mars and Rhea Silvia, and Mars is strongly tied with my Gemini astrological nonsense, so there you go couldn't fit anymore perfectly!
To compound the relation of She Wolf and Gertie, I offer some choice excerpts from an astrology article I read this morning:
Full Moon in Aries:
The One We Feed
by April Elliott Kent
An old Cherokee Indian was speaking to his grandson:
"A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy. "It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil--he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is good -- he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too."
The grandson thought about it for a long minute, and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"
The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one I feed."
It's not that Libra is "good" and Aries is "bad" - but certainly the wolves in the old Cherokee's story describe the archetypal Libra at its best (the "good" wolf) and Aries at its worst (the "bad" wolf). The Libran wolf in the story represents the need for harmony and teamwork within the pack. The Aries wolf represents the competition for scarce resources. Each needs the other for survival, but as with all opposing signs, it's important to get the balance right. For too long, the wolf of violence, greed, and arrogance has been overfed and has become domineering. And now, as the pendulum begins to swing in another direction, the dominant wolf, fearing for his survival, begins to snarl and bite.
Make no mistake: This wolf is inside all of us. It knows no political party, no religion, no gender; it's part of our common evolutionary urge to survive and to dominate. It is not inherently evil. But when society loses its balance and this wolf becomes dangerous, it must be confronted before it can be rehabilitated.
There is a fight going on inside you, and me, and every other person, too. Which wolf will win? The one we feed.
http://mooncircles.com/fullmoon_april.html
and so I also have this dress I'm making, collaged with a different set of images, I don't know if maybe it would be in the room some where? The metaphorical "fix" for her troubles, the dress being the experiences you wear, so replacing Gertie's pain and suffering with the dress of a better life? Is this the same bank where Wolfie's predecessor rescues the abandoned to die Romulus and Remus? Maybe the room then is the mythological river bank...The dress will be on a stand, maybe nearby, maybe in another corner of the room with a spotlight on it?
That's what my wish list for this piece is, this is my ideal plan,here's a picture of the Girls(works in progress)
baby # 1!!
Baby #2
aww they're playing ;)
Baby # 3(work in Progress)
