Moore in America

The New York (Bronx) Botanic Garden in the Bronx had been running a photography contest relating to its Henry Moore sculpture exhibit. About twenty of Moore’s works were scattered throughout its 250 hilly acres. It was great fun to stumble upon these randomly – one after another – as one made one's way from one of the fifty garden plots to the next. BBG provided a map, of course; but it was far better to ignore it and trudge on, relying on accidental encounters with Moore’s monumental art.

At first blush, it wouldn’t seem appropriate to mix Moore’s abstractions with the natural beauty of any outdoor garden. His trademark metallic surfaces, reflecting sunlight so harshly, would seem to clash with the muted greens so prevalent on a hot summer’s day. But, for some reason, it worked just fine. I was quite enchanted as I just happened onto one or another of these.

Now, there’s the issue of the photography contest. It appears they were encouraging visitors to take pictures of Moore’s sculptures and by it show how they might interact with the general landscape. Taking pictures of any art is a bit like eating twice-warmed meals. Presumably, the artist will already have painstakingly crafted his perspectives. Taking a picture of the result only subjects the work to yet another (artistic) filter which, more often than not, is likely to destroy the artist’s original intent, especially as the photographic medium demands a leap from the three to the (considerably lesser) two-dimensional format. It’s no wonder that Henry Moore had agreed to this. There’s virtually no chance of his work being upstaged by such a process. And even the declared winner of such a farce could have expected little more than a condescending glance from the judges.

While knowing all this, I too got sucked into the game. The fact that the exhibit was not permanent made it more urgent that I get there in time before the exhibit moved on to Atlanta.

Any metaphysical arguments aside, I must admit I had fun taking these pictures. Anyone familiar with my work will appreciate that I’ve happily taken pictures of art (not Garfunkle) previously, gleefully trampling on copyright considerations. Since I tend to experience the world (admittedly second-hand) through my photographs anyway, why would I pass up this golden opportunity to practice this particular perversion?

I therefore invite you, dear side streeter, to participate in this (my) game as well and ask you to choose one of the six photographs shown here that I submitted for consideration and lost. Feel free to use the blog feature on this website to register your choice. The correct answer will be forthcoming in my next posting.