W A R D O G S The Equestrian Works Of J O H N M A S S E E An Essay On The Interpretation Of A Genre by Deborah Vincenzo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Throughout Massee’s career he applied for more than thirty-four commissions. He succeeded in actually constructing five. The Giant Plaza in Beijing, Incidence At Large in Milwaukee and Plaza Incidence in Toronto are three that were constructed in public settings. ...down here the local selection committees tend to western art. They have been inured to this genre for hundreds of years and when they think of Sculpture they think of cast bronze men and horses or sappy depictions of frontier life. The more sentimental the better. |
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Massee designed groups of Sculptures that created an environment, a Plaza, a space defined by its’ objects. His concern about what he perceived to be a public desire for drama and accessability was resolved by his equestrian series. ?The inclusion in these groupings of Massee’s Giant figures on their bases adds an element of mystery, of enigmatic wonder. The scale of the Giant figures is greater than the scale of the equestrian Sculptures. This lends a feeling of discord and inexactitude to the whole group. This incongruence of scale takes the Sculpture as a whole, The Plaza, to a different mode of Sculptural awareness. It removes the work from the Western Art Genre and palces it somewhere else. |
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Massee uses many of the motifs of Classical Equestrian depiction in these designs. The three horses in the rear of this image are typical of greek relief sculpture and vase painting where the horses pulling a chariot or arrayed against an enemy are all the same and layered atop one another. This gives an appearance of order, strength and unity.
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Giant Plaza, in Beijing, China is typical of the environmental work that Massee was involved in. The ten foot high figures on the four bases create a small Plaza. The play on words in the choice of title for the work is typical as well of Massee’s sense of humor. A model, in glavanized steel, for one version of Giant Plaza. |
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The models, in glavanized steel, mild steel, aluminum and cast bronze were a useful way for Massee to see the effects of placement of the individual elements The phenomenon of grouping many Sculptures together to create an environment went through many stages. From the drawings ?to the finished model to the realization of the actual Sculpture involved many steps. |
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