To Twine by Janine Antoni
Immediate Response:
When I first saw the sculpture to twine by Janine Antoni it was hard not to notice the complexity of the two spines woven together but together with the simplicity of the wall behind it and the setting it is on. When seeing the piece, it made me think of marriage. Marriage is the connection of two people intertwining their life together and connected the balance of the complexity and simplicity that marriage can be.
Objective Description:
This piece is made of two human spines intertwined together like two snakes would intertwine with each other. It is set on a cream carpet with a white background. The spines are very complex in nature and the sculpture shows that by showing where each disk would be and having the spines connect in the disks at the bottom end of the piece.
Technical Decisions:
The presentation of the sculpture sits on a white carpet in a bland white room. I believe that the specific method of Antoni presenting the sculpture like this is to strictly have the viewer focus on the two spines intertwined with each other but to also have the artist see the simplicity surrounding the complexity of the sculpture. I believe that “to twine’s composition is static in nature. The composition being static in nature impacted me as a viewer by having me directly focus on the two spines intertwined when first looking at the sculpture and strictly focusing on the beauty of it.
The Work in the World:
The only item in this sculpture is two spines. The association with the world that these two spines would have is that the spine is the backbone of every person in the world. The two spines coming together shows that people of the world can come together. The artwork relates with history because since the beginning of time people have always been mistreated and the artwork associates with the movement to put that behind and try and have everyone love each other and come together.
The Story it Tells:
The meaning of this sculpture is to show people that the world can run better and be much simpler if we came together in either marriage that correlates with my initial thoughts on the work and coming together as a world and loving each other. I arrived at these interpretations of the work because I believe that the white walls and white carpet are signs of simplicity and that the two spines coming together can be many people coming together. People could interpret this work as two people who were lost in the world coming together and living through the mess we call life together.