Maurizio Cattelan's giant cat, named Felix after the famous cartoon cat created in the early twentieth century by Otto Messmer (American, 1892-1983) draws on popular culture and delves into our collective imagination and desire for spectacle. Measuring more than forty-six feet in length with a tail that extends twenty-six feet in the air, the cat skeleton dwarfs a human being, playing with scale to shift the power relationship with the viewer.
As in his other works, with Felix Cattelan experiments with how viewers must suspend their disbelief in order to succumb to the fantasy of his vision. In 2001, when visiting Chicago in preparation for a commission at the MCA, Cattelan was inspired by Sue - the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex ever discovered -at the Field Museum of Natural History. Cattelan designed Felix for a particular space, the MCA atrium and wanted his work to become a popular museum attraction, like Sue.
Cattelan's work, involving distortions of scale and reality, probes issues of originality, popular culture, humor, and fear. Inspired by the public's fascination with the origins of Sue, the popular Tyrannosaurus rex on view at the Field Museum, Cattelan has transformed a household cat into an ominously gargantuan figure. While challenging viewers' perceptions of the subject matter and its scale, Cattelan also questions notions of both artifact and exhibition. Naming the skeleton after the cartoon character Felix the Cat, Cattelan jokingly undermines historical fact with fiction to reactivate the realm of childhood wonderment within a contemporary art public space.
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Considering these ideas, and the kind of dialogue Cattelan was creating with the Field Museum,if you were to submit your sculpture (the skeleton) as a proposal for a large public monument somewhere in Chicago, where would you have it placed, and why?
Considering these ideas, and the kind of dialogue Cattelan was creating with the Field Museum,if you were to submit your sculpture (the skeleton) as a proposal for a large public monument somewhere in Chicago, where would you have it placed, and why?
27 comments:
I would put my fish skeleton near some harbor, or by the shedd aquarium. This would be a nice addition to the otherwise boring harbors that populate the shoreline of northern Chicago, or just a nice perk to the other attractions near the shedd aquarium. It's position near the lake would give it some additional meaning, maybe saying something about the fishermen that fish lake michigan.
I would put mine somewhere really obscure where not many people would see it. Foxes are forgotten--not in the sense that people forget they exist, but many people forget how utterly awesome they are, which is evidenced by the highly irritating yet undeniably catchy song, "What Does The Fox Say?" So putting it in a strange environment would play with the idea of foxes being forgotten since it wouldn't be seen and appreciated by everyone, but still catch the eye of a few.
I would put my seahorse skeleton somewhere where there is a lot of pollution or somewhere like a company that dumps its byproducts whether it be chemical or not into the ocean. I would want people that see my sculpture to be reminded of the consequences of pollution like that of damaging and losing the beautiful variety of life in the ocean. Since my sculpture is so tiny compared to a human hopefully they will interpret it as the seahorses life being in their hands that, its life is fragile and it is constantly being tested by the actions of humans. By the constant reminder and maybe guilt that my sculpture induces then said person or company as a whole would consider ways in which they can reduce the pollution of the earth.
I would put my turtle skeleton near Navy Pier, on one of the structures that's always covered in birds. I'd want it to look like the turtle was climbing out of the water and onto the structure. I would want the turtle to be huge. It would be a reminder that Illinois was once home to giant animals like huge turtles way back before it was settled and what not. I think it would just be cool to look at. You're gazing out the pier and see a huge turtle skeleton among st the skyline. Pretty cool.
I would put my snake wire skeleton inside the outer exhibit of the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum because I went there recently and the design is very beautiful and I think the metal of the skeleton would contrast nicely against all the greenery. It also is where a snake really belongs,lurking within plants and shrubs. Other wire skeletons of animals whose natural habitats are similar could also be placed among the plants.
I would put my human sculpture in a public place in downtown where there is often high traffic of people hustling and bustling around. I think people would identify with the sculpture in their own personal way since it is a human, everyone can interpret the sculpture to be similar to them. The sculpture would also be life size (or maybe a little taller than average to make it stick out more), around 6 feet tall to add to the relatable feel I'm going for.
I would put our mosaic in a dark room so that the bright primary colors that we use stand out and liven up the entire area. The theme of our piece is World Language and we based it off of Native American drawings and patterns. I think our piece could go well in a library, museum, or school.
I'd want to place my stag sculpture somewhere in Grant Park,and I want Bucky to be even bigger than he is currently. Passersby would have to tilt their head up to gaze at him, just like they do for the Sears tower. It would be amazing, a sculpture of a magnificent, proud animal, made of twisted metal, standing above trees and even small buildings. I'd have the armature heated as well, so that the sculpture exudes warmth as if Bucky was living and breathing. It would combine Nature and Chicago into one sculpture beautifully.
I would put my giraffe on Oak Street Beach in a position where it is drinking water from the lake. I think most people would be surprised because normally you'd expect a giraffe to simply reach down with it's long neck and drink water, but this is not the case. Although a giraffe's neck is long enough so that it can eat leaves on a tree, it is not long enough where it can simply reach down and drink water. Giraffes have to spread their front legs wide in order for their necks to be able to reach all the way down. I just think it'd be really interesting to have a huge giraffe with straddled front legs in the middle of Oak Street Beach and I think people would be really fascinated by it.
I believe my flamingo would be best fit to live along the lakefront path. Somewhere north of Walter Payton (closer to my house). There isn't a lot of public art along the lakefront path, so while people are biking or running, it will catch them off guard and hopefully intrigue them. I also want to place it by the water because that is a flamingo's natural habitat. They don't live in lakes, rather, small wading pools, but I don't want the reference to water to be too literal. I think it would look cool for a flamingo, taller than the trees to be walking along the lakefront path, just as all the humans are doing.
I would place my turtle in front of the Wetlands Initiative downtown.The Wetlands initiative strives to restore wetland resources to the Midwest and increase wildlife habitat biodiversity. My turtle sculpture would represent the turtles that have become endangered in Illinois due the loss of wetlands, as well as emphasize the organization's initiative.
Considering the green tree frog isn't native to Chicago, I think I would put it near the river to symbolize how we could have plentiful fauna here in Chicago if we left some "green space" where they needed it the most: near the river. Here in Chicago, the river is surrounded either my office buildings or residential buildings in order to attract tourists. If we didn't have so many buildings surrounding the river, rather some grassy areas, I think more wildlife would settle by the river. In my opinion, I think tourists would find it really cool to have a balance of both the city and wildlife scene here in Chicago. Even though the green tree frog couldn't live in such cold temperatures here in Chicago, I think my sculpture would still advocate for the development of forest-like areas for the wildlife that used to live here, before Chicago was industrialized.
I would place my bat in Millennium Park. The structure of the skeleton makes it an easy piece to climb around on and I feel like people would appreciate another interactive piece, like the bean, downtown to enjoy. The bat would work well in the park as the bean is solid and rounded while the bat is open and linear.
This is going to sound a little weird but I think I would have my elephant skeleton installed in a cemetery. Elephants have always been a symbol for unfading memory. We never want to be forgotten and try our best not to forget the ones who have gone on before us, so I think it would be only appropriate if a symbol of everlasting memory (to some extent) were present in a cemetery.
As for the other elephant sculpture, I would probably install it a children's museum or a zoo. These locations are both major kid attractions. The display would be set up in such a way that the kids could write one word that comes to mind when they think of the elephant. I think this action might help them grow closer to the animal and possibly inspire them to want to protect it in the future.
My large whale skeleton would be a nice addition to the North Shore Sculpture Park on the northern branch of the river (I'm not sure if this is still considered in Chicago). There are a lot of other sculptures of varying materials and themes, some abstract and some literal. I think a big blue whale skeleton would fit in well, because although it is very literal, its hard to know what it is at first, because the skeleton of a whale is much different than what a whale looks like with all its muscle and skin. Those using the trail would still have to think about what the sculpture is, just like the others around it. Additionally, being on the river, the whale plays into the water aspect. Even though whales aren't in rivers obviously, it connects to the idea of all the rivers in the world eventually leading to the oceans, just like how you can follow many paths (literally and figuratively) to get to where you want to go and be where you were meant to end up.
I would put my bear skeleton somewhere near Soldier field very appropriate because of Chicago's football team. I'm thinking Grant Park. A bear survives horrible weather and knows how to swim so that Grant park Chicago weather seems like the perfect context to my bear. Also because originally my sculpture has a green base so the grass at Grant park is the perfect base for a bigger bear of mine/
I would put my Allosaurus Skeleton across from Sue the T-rex at the Field Museum. The reason why i would put it there is because It would fit the theme perfectly in the main hall of the field museum.
I would place my shark skeleton hanging in millennium park because the metal of the shark skeleton would blend with the other installations in the park but the sculpture would contrast with the environment because a sharks natural habitat isn't on land especially in a park. This would cause people to look twice at it but also leave it open for interpretation.
I would put my sculpture in a garden by other frogs or the at the Shedd Aquarium. Just like Cattelan's giant cat, my frog is giant too! My frog causes people to react and adjust to the unusual or the unexpected. I think many people will be caught off guard or amused by a giant frog. However, maybe my frog will cause people to re-evaluate their perception of frogs and put their previous beliefs about frogs aside in order to accept my unusual sculpture.
I would have placed my fish skeleton near a lake, pond, lagoon, ocean, or river. In other words anywhere an underwater creature is going extinct. I would use my sculpture in one of two ways: the first would be to send a message by using the sculpture it would remind the offender of their offense but not condemn them. The second would be to advertise sometimes simply reminding someone that other creatures in the world are not made up so different than humans teaches people to appreciate other forms of life. I would not want my sculpture in a museum or exhibit because I would want people to see it in a real "everyday environment" not one created by man, so that people are able to look deeper than just a scene they saw on a school field trip.
I would put my sculpture somewhere in my neighborhood on the southwest side of Chicago because there aren't any sculptures or forms of public art anywhere. I think adding my turtle sculpture to a park or by a school could help inspire kids to get involved in making art. This is something that is seriously lacking in my neighborhood. If you go downtown or to many other neighborhoods, there are murals and sculptures and it really creates an interesting and inspiring environment to live in.
I would have my sculpture placed at the Reptile exhibit at the Brookfield or Lincoln Park Zoo. It would allow for visitors to see the animal itself and its skeleton in the same exhibit. It would also provide visitors with a nice taste of an art/ zoology blend. If sculpture's like this one were created for all the animals then the zoo might attract more visitors and even interest people in creating their own art. If the task of creating these sculptures was given to amateur sculptors, they would gain experience and the zoo would gain new additions to their exhibits.
I would put my penguin skeleton close to a penguin exhibit at one of the zoos in Chicago, just because it would be fun to show the inside of the amazing flightless bird compared to the real thing. As a functional piece, it would be interesting to see how different the penguin is in our imagination to what actually is. As purely a sculpture, it's fun to recognize the penguin in its pose amongst the other penguins
I would put my bison sculpture in front of the Peggy Notebaert nature museum, because a bison is a symbol for the American plains which is a big part of nature. At this location, not only would the piece provide the visitor an interesting view of the animals skeleton, it would also act as a piece promoting America, being that the bison is known as the American plains animal
I would put my large duck skeleton next near Montrose harbor. This spot has sentimental value to me due to the fact that it was at Montrose Harbor where I was first exposed to and fell in love with baby ducks. I think that this would be a good spot for my giant duck because it will bring more attention to the growing duck population in Montrose Harbor and hopefully remind people to treat the ducks properly by feeding them duck-friendly foods that won't harm them.
I would probably put my polar bear sculpture in the arboretum hidden because bears are rarely seen in Illinois. The bear would also fit in with all the other animals such as owls and eagles. I think the sculpture would also remind people that bears are playful and majestic.
Although I did not make a skeleton, if I had it would have been a peacock. If given the chance, I would put the enlarged peacock on beach facing towards the water. I would put it here because it would give a really nice contrast to the general feel of the beach and the normal animals that inhabit it. Peacocks are beautiful and colorful creatures, much more spectacular than the seagulls and pigeons in Chicago.
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