Gallery Visit #1

Arabesque by Peter Jansen (2007)

    Arabesque (2007) is a Bronze/ Chrome statuette made by Peter Jansen as part of his 'Human Motions' series (I'm guessing, his website isn't very clear).

    I'm exploring motion in my sustained investigation too, but this is quite different than the ideas I had in mind. 

    I like that the center of the body isn't disrupted by the motion of the limbs. Since the piece is called 'Arabesque', I'm guessing the subject is a dancer. Not disrupting the torso's form almost adds to the idea of a dancer with perfect posture, so perfect that the movement of the arms/legs doesn't affect the torso. In the same sentiment, I like that the head also is a little elongated to show the movement, and it's subtle enough to add to the form without making it look like the subject has multiple heads.

    It bothers me that that there is so much going on with the piece's movement, to the point that I thought the arms were wings at first (the textures look like feathers at first glance). There's a LOT of limbs to look at, and it makes it easier to see the arc of motion. I think it also adds to the piece and adds uniformity amongst his whole 'Human Motions' collection, but I still don't necessarily like it. 

   I wonder why he chose to put so many limbs. There isn't an equal interval between each limb too, which is what I would've done. If you look at the legs, the ones closer to the ground are further apart than the ones in the air. I'm not super sure what exactly this is supposed to add or show. How fast the motion is, perhaps? Although, I do really love the balance in this piece. The lean forward is clearly apparent and the legs almost look like a skirt which gives a nice forward/back, high/lower balance.