WP 3: Pre-Writing Assignment 3

Continuing the analysis of Bather from pre-write 2, there are a few things I did not get to.  Following the prompt from the English 151 blog, I decided to look deeper into the material Bather is made of.  That material is bronze.  This metal of choice is actually an alloy.  The modern bronze composition is ninety percent copper and ten percent tin.  Older compounds varied only slightly from this bronze recipe. Bronze sculptures and statues are very common.  Bronze is chosen because it is a very strong material.  Another unique character of bronze that makes it a formidable material for statues and sculptures is its ability to expand just be for it cools.  This character allows the material to fill molds perfectly.  All of these characteristics allow bronze sculptures to last longer than any other medium for sculptures and statues.  We do not see as many older and more famous works in some parts of the world because of ancient wars.  When countries would be in a time of war, most of the bronze would be melted down to make armor, weapons, and other things that were needed.

Knowing some background information on bronze allowed me to look at why that particular material was used.  The artist wanted this to last.  It was known that bronze could weather anything mother nature could throw at it.  Not only that, but it would be able to withstand what ever mankind could throw at it, barring any wars that needed bronze.  The sculptor wanted this piece to be seen for a long time.

Another item that I touched on in the first analysis was the abstract properties of the sculpture.  This does not look like a bather that we would see in real life.  The rules of realism are broken to get to a deeper meaning in the art.  It can allow people to slow down and actually think about the sculpture.  It would not be hard to analyze a sculpture that looked exactly like someone bathing.  It would not make people stop and really think about what they are seeing.  This puts the sculpture in a position to appeal to more emotions of the audience members.

The only part that I have yet to really look at is the color.  It will take some extra thought and analysis to see if there is a great meaning to the color of the bronze and how there really is no control for color as with other methods and styles of art.