Introduction
Postmodern art is characterized by a strong admission of the realities of life, including the ugly parts, at the same time that it acknowledges a degree of make-believe as each symbol or image is recognized to hold different meanings for different people based upon their individual worldview. Artists working in this environment have often turned to highlighting the ugly as a means of revealing the sublime. One artist that does this is Ron Mueck, who focuses on the hyper-real to force reconsideration of everyday images.
Main body
Mueck entered the world of high art through television and film production. He was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1958 to toy-making parents and grew up working with them on their projects (LifeCastings, 2001). By the time he reached adulthood, Mueck was working as a modeler, designer and puppeteer on a children’s television show (Resource Library, 2007). Through this work, he was able to land a position working as a puppeteer on the 1986 film “Labyrinth.”
It was thanks to his success on this project that Mueck was able to start his second career as a freelance modeler. Most of his work in this field was involved in creating models to be used in advertisements (LifeCastings, 2001). This finally gave him the opportunity to focus on details like he dreamed of doing, but remained unsatisfied because of the way his work was being transmitted to the world.
He broke through into the world of fine art with his innovative use of fiberglass as a means of capturing more lifelike detail and managed to catch the eye of Charles Saatchi with “Dead Dad.” This piece was a lifelike sculpture at 2/3rds scale that represented Mueck’s naked father lying dead on the floor. Saatchi, who is well-known for his extensive support of the arts, ordered several commissions and Mueck was officially made a part of the fine art crowd as a hyper-realist sculptor.
Mueck’s work is characterized by his deliberate manipulation of scale as a means of inciting an emotional reaction to everyday images, such as what is seen in “Big Man” (Tangey, 2003). The name says it all as the sculpture is the image of a big man seated on the floor. Even seated, though, the statue is approximately eight feet tall. The man is naked and sits on the floor with his knees drawn up in front of him. Although many of Mueck’s statues seem particularly focused on the ‘unpleasant’ aspects of human bodies, such as body hair, pimples or moles, this particular statue has a noticeable lack of body hair.
Mueck explains this as being a serendipitous aspect of the piece as it reflects the model who arrived to sit for the piece. According to Mueck, “The model was a ‘smoothie’ as they call them in the live modeling trade. It was very creepy. I had actually intended to put some hair on the figure, but in the end, the creepiness suited the size. I did think, however, that hairs on those big arms would have been quite nice actually – big, hairy gorilla arms” (Tangey, 2003).
The man leans heavily on his elbows which rest in turn on his knees. He props his chin up on his hand and stares angrily out toward anyone arriving to gawk at him which can be unsettling given the statue’s larger than normal size. Within the piece, it is obvious that Mueck has perfected the art of fiberglass and resin in the very lifelike tone and color he achieves on the surface of his creations to simulate real skin while his completed projects highlight his masterful choice of models in order to achieve the look he’s seeking.
In addition to being a ‘smoothie’, the model proved unable to maintain the original position Mueck had in mind primarily because of the extra weight he carries around his waist. In changing the pose to accommodate the man’s limitations, Mueck also incorporated these faults within the sculpture, brilliantly duplicating the soft fatty tissue losing elasticity due to age in characteristic places such as under the arms, near the man’s buttocks and around his ankles. The strong realism gives the impression that the “Big Man” is a faithful representation, but Mueck reveals that he took some creative license such as intentionally enlarging the feet to give the man a more bullish attitude.
Overemphasis is also represented in Mueck’s sculpture “Pregnant Woman.” In a similar way, the idea of the pregnant woman as all powerful is established in his sculpture “Pregnant Woman.” “At first, it’s the sheer technical brilliance of the figures that astounds. From the stubble on the chin of the small Man in a Boat to the mole on the neck of the 8 foot-tall Pregnant Woman, the attention to detail is awe-inspiring” (Carter, 2003).
The woman stands eight feet tall and stands with her hands raised over her head making her seem even taller. Her pose makes it clear that she is not trying to hide her body or any part of her condition as she stands completely nude and completely unaware of being observed. From the expression on her face, it seems as if the room is too hot for her as she stands with her feet apart, holds the loose hair up off her face and her cheeks are flushed.
She looks like a busy mother taking a moment to catch her breath. Her eyes fall down toward the tight skin stretched around her very pregnant belly as if she is calmly dreaming of what the future might bring, but this stance also enables her to look down on her visitors and places her in a position of power. Because of her size and her tired, expectant attitude, “Pregnant Woman” becomes EveryMother, tired of keeping up with her children, warm from the exertion and always patiently loving.
Conclusion
In his artwork, Mueck demonstrates a fascination with representing as much of the real as possible while also utilizing the formal properties of art to convey the sense of a lived experience. Although he remains faithful to the imperfections of his human forms, Mueck purposely disfigures his models in order to emphasize a particular emotional idea. Because of the realistic qualities portrayed in his sculptures, it is almost impossible for audiences not to discover some form of relationship with them, particularly as their unusual changes and sizes force us to consider them in an entirely new way.
Works Cited
Carter, Jonathan. “Hyperrealist Sculpture that Keeps up with its Neighbors.” Collective. Vol. 206. BBC, (2003). Web.
“Ron Mueck.” LifeCastings.com. ArtMolds Sculpture Studio, 2001. Web.
“Ron Mueck.” Resource Library. Arizona, (2007). Web.
Tangey, Sarah. “The Progress Big Man: A Conversation with Ron Mueck.” Sculpture. International Sculpture Center. Vol. 22, N. 6, (2003). Web.