Looking through My Modern Met, I came across an artist whose work is showing in the Anthro[physis] exhibition at the Rivera Gallery. The concept is the relationship between humanity and its surrounding habitat. Néle Azevedo‘s pieces in particular caught my eye because of her use of ice sculptures. Melting Men is her contribution to the urban intervention project called Minimum Monument, which is a critical response to the various impacts of public monuments built for posterity in cities.
Néle intended these miniature ephemeral sculptures to be temporary remembrances of any person, with the collection taking on the importance because of their impact on our psyche. Their long-term memories exists in our minds and in our shared images, yet their disappearance speaks to the fleeting importance that we all have in the context of time. The number of melting sculptures countered the real-life permanent sculptures that existed in that city or town, so that their sheer numbers became the predominant comment towards the necessity of monuments.
It’s a pretty powerful statement for us to think deeper into the commemorative decisions that we make, so that we take more into account than we currently do. Are there better ways to commemorate a person’s contribution to society that don’t have to become grand building projects? Did the people even get any opportunity to comment on their creation? And what about those hidden masses who do just as much, but are barely even thanked? Some things to think about…
As Néle chooses to ask, how do we fit into this world?
