January 20, 2009

Tension, 2008
Michael Murphy
2'x2'x9' - 1000 feet of steel high tension wire, black enamel and poplar base
image: mmike.com

I've looked for Obama art before but this is the first time I've come across the fantastic blog,
The Obama Art Report. There were endless works to choose from and I went with Michael Murphy as he actually has been focusing on making art with Obama as a focus.

The significant amount of inspiration that this election and Obama himself has causes is amazing. Works range in levels of artistic merit, but regardless of their placement in the world of "art" just knowing that the events taking place are warranting such an outpouring of artistic creation is wonderful.

From profiles to head shots, paintings, drawings and more, there aren't too many sculptures that I've come across. On Murphy's website you can see the drawings that led to the sculpture which stems from a simple silhouette. The emergence of the face of Obama out of what appears to be a tangle of wires is striking. The transition of a 2D drawing to a 3D drawing (as I see this sculpture) creates not just a physical depth to the image but a visual and emotional one as well.

I was going to share a straight up fun image using the techniques I am working on in my own work so check out Pez Prez here.

I have never been particularly eloquent so I won't be able to provide any good testament to the significance of today, Inauguration day, but I will be watching the Inauguration speech at my computer at work tomorrow, sending out hugs and smiles and shouts to my friends and family who were able to make it to D.C. to be a part of a better history to come.