The Vanity of Creation: Review 3
by: danii oliver
Having trouble with over designing or using too many ingredients in one image, I decided to step back in time to a period when Art wasn’t trying to make a statement; when Art was about the form and function of the space it rested in or the function of its use. Walking into the Museo Archeologico I witnessed historical art in a light I had never noticed before. All the work displayed had the same theme, “Vanity”. What seemingly has made art this old still have a lasting impression is the vanity of creation at the time.
The museum displayed an assortment of Pompeian sculptures, mosaics, frescos and paintings. The works that stood out the most were from the Pompeian sex room. This was a room re-created to resemble certain rooms of the Volcano buried town of Pompeii. At the entrance there stood a stone in a strange undefined shape, along the wall paintings of men with large penises adorned the room. It wasn’t until I came to the end of the 1st room where doors were painted on the walls and penises hung over the doors that I realized I was in a room dedicated to Sex. Better yet dedicated to the male genital first then the act of sexual intercourse.
The pieces in this exhibit where not grand multi-dimensional designs that broke rules, pushed boundaries or told a deep story, they were simply one moment in time. This simplicity and focus felt quite vain. The separation of the any surrounding world gave a superior level of importance to the subject. Where, why and when did not matter. All that was apparent was the subject.
The vanity of creation was the most apparent in the sculptures of the Pompeii exhibit. The sculptures took over your attention with a hypnotic awe. Both the small and large pieces commanded a great deal of looking. I state that in the simplest way to express the exact reaction, “Looking.” The level of focus and that I am deeming vanity demanded it. The sculpture of a goat man having sex with a goat clearly says to the viewer “Don’t look elsewhere, look at me!”
The exhibit taught me something about focus, even the method use to set up the display of the skeletons vainly said “look at me; pay me all your attention.” The room for the exhibit was blacked out with black stringy curtains and dimmed blue tinted lights in between which set the mood for what was to come – and you knew it – death. The set up was barely inviting in the sense that you did not feel as though you belonged there, however, I was still strongly drawn in. With the room being nearly completely dark all one could do was “Look.”
Successfully all the pieces in the exhibition maintained a great deal of focus and attention from its viewer. In many cases I was drawn so far in that I needed to walk around sculptures to be able to take it all in. This old school art style of having a level of vanity in the creation is a lesson to pay attention to and learn from.
