One of the many sculptures outside the Sheldon Museum of Art, “Willy”, was made in 1962 out of welded steel by a man named Tony Smith. This abstract piece of art is differs from those surrounding it. A vast majority of these pieces show portions of humans or contain similarity with other well known objects. However Tony Smith’s piece of art is something unique. It argues a different perception of art and a way nature, time, and the audience influences each other. This piece of art shows that anyone can become part of art and how art can fit in with our everyday life. Tony Smith’s background in art, the elements of “Willy”, and the environment in which it is placed all give us insight into the connections between artist, audience, elements, and environment.Tony Smith was born in South Orange, New Jersey into an Irish catholic family. As a child he was stricken with tuberculosis. While being quarantined from his family, he started making models from small medicine boxes (New Angles on Art). Later in life he did paintings and worked in architecture. However, he became frustrated when clients wanted to keep changing his ideas. So he instead focused more on art. An idea for his first sculpture came to him while teaching a course on basic design (Time Magazine). His students were creating basic designs using cigarette boxes when he noticed a black file box behind them (Time Magazine). As a result, his
first work of art was a metal box which simply enough he named “Black Box”. After this he began to create more geometric works of art, which displayed some of his architecture background. These pieces would later go from inside museums and later break outside of them into the outdoors.This break from the confines of a museum into nature shows how expansive art can be. It proves that to experience art you do not have to enter a building to view it, or possibly pay money to view it. With sculptures outdoors, any person can be exposed to it. For example, “Willy” is placed on a campus where students from all sorts of backgrounds and intelligences walk by. With sculptures and other forms of art being placed outdoors, you have a more vast audience you are not limited to just people with a background in art, or old couples getting out and around. Everyday people can now try to relate to it. Ironically, Tony Smith named this piece of art after the character Willie from Samuel Beckett’s play Happy Days. In this play, Willie is a character that crawled as a mode of transportation. In the same manor you could say that “Willy” crawled his way out of traditional art viewing into a more exclusive way for viewers to experience. This change creates a greater bond between audience, sculpture, placement, and artist. Tony Smith felt that America was growing and expanding with sky scrapers and other buildings, so he wanted to create sculptures that would be more to scale w
ith this change (Time Magazine). He did just that. He made a definite connection between audiences that were expanding their lives in conjunction with the growing society, and created large works of art that would stand out for audiences to become a part of.Like many of his other works of art, Tony Smith had a unique way of piecing elements together to get an expansive and incredible work of art. His pieces were welded steel formed into geometric shapes. Any signs of welding were smoothed over. This made the piece seem more natural and took people away from focusing on the lines connecting each piece to the larger structure he had created. Geometric shapes can allow an audience member to relate their background in shapes like triangles trapezoids and others that are implemented into his work. Most of audience members, in other words passer byes, remember dealing with these sorts of shapes in some point in their life.
Most importantly, “Willy” is greatly influenced through the nature in which it was placed and the surrounding environment in which the statue is presented. When “Willy” was placed outside the doors of the Sheldon Museum of Art, it was placed in a more open space than those in the surrounding area. When put in an area like the one “Willy” was placed in it is more susceptible to the nature, weather, and objects surrounding it. In addition to this it gives the opportunity to walk up to it, touch it, and view it in a much closer proximity. When you stand close to this sculpture in the more sunny times of the year you can see a reflection of the colors you present. It is like you are meant to influence this sculpture in even a minimal way. The way you place yourself in relation to the sculpture affects the perception you get. This sculpture, with its
large size, allows you to move around it and through it. So you can get a really broad and diverse feeling for it. In addition, the different seasons have an effect on “Willy”. With the sun beating down on this piece you not only get reflections of various colors, but “Willy” also casts obscure shadows beneath and around it. This causes the image of “Willy” to be in a constant change. The Earth is constantly moving around the Sun, making it change positions constantly. As seasons come and go the relationship between sculpture and weather changes. During fall months, the background of this piece of art changes. The grass that was once a luscious green has faded into a brown colored landscape. In the same way the trees transition through color schemes. They move from green leaves to more bright reds, oranges, or yellows; eventually the leaves fall off the tree all together. This gives the whole background a deader look. With the color of “Willy” being black, it doesn’t really clash with any of the colors of seasons. It is one basic color that goes with almost any. In transition from the dead of fall, the winter months bring snow to the campus. This gives yet another look and environment for Tony Smith’s “Willy”. Snow will cover some of “Willy” while most will fall at its base. Nature causes the makeup, view, and perspective of the sculpture to change.Tony Smith
's composition of “Willy” has shown audiences the connection between artist, audience, elements, and environment. It has also shown that when a sculpture is placed outside it takes on a new meaning. Audiences of different types and backgrounds are able to see them in a way that relates to them specifically. Also with it being outdoors, more people are able to see it. Tony Smith wanted to have a larger scaled piece of art to relate it to the growing size of the world’s skyscrapers and life in general. His larger than life sculptures allow viewers that may have no background in art to now be able to relate to it.Works Cited:
(n.d.). Snapshot: tony smith. Retrieved from http://www.nga.gov/education/classroom/new_angles/bio_smith.shtm
(1967, October 13). Sculpture: master of the monumentalists. Time Magazine, Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,837402-1,00.html
