3D Model Assignment 3 - Monument Recreation

     

Thankfully, this strange little horse statue was the only thing I've printed all semester that didn't mess itself up at some point during the process. It's very strong, and the smaller details look much better on the actual printed version than in the 3d modeling program. I think that's probably because of the scale and material smoothing over my more obvious rough spots. The hooves printed very nicely, which makes the entire thing look that much funnier to me. I'm glad that I nixed some of my shoddier sculpted aspects to use the pre-modeled horse legs, ears, and human head. It almost looks like it could be an actual statue. Almost.

  

The purpose of my idea was mostly to take the power away from these controversial figures in history. So many of these monuments were made of confederate soldiers whose prime purpose was to rip the country apart to keep their slaves. As such, it's no wonder that seeing recreations of their image is uncomfortable to minority groups still being effected by inequality. The only reason these statues stay up is because these figures are treated as reverent heroes or important figures to America's history. While this is true, and we shouldn't simply gloss over the horrible things our country has done in the past, that's not really an excuse to have so many out in random public spaces.

I've always personally been a fan of satire, and especially political satire. It's a difficult style to get right without being annoying or obvious, but injecting humor into these topics is a sign of resistance. It's difficult for people to stay important or powerful if they're being laughed at in any capacity. Of course, the concept of a horse riding a man isn't exactly inventing the wheel. However, it's a simple twist on the already existing trillion Robert E Lee statues plastered all over the country. It's not meant to be offensive to anyone, just to subvert the already existing idea. I personally hold a lot of respect for comedy as a resource. Not everything has to be taken seriously 100% of the time. If people who were and still are harmed by these statues can feel a bit lighter laughing at their image, then more power to them.

When I look back at all the things I printed... I realize that they're all very weird. Which is good. Weird is fun.