Re-Assesing The Walker

The Art that I would like to talk about is the Unpainted Sculpture by Charles Ray, which is the spray painted car that we talked about in class so much. One of the main reasons people did or didn't like the piece was because it was modeled after a car that someone had died in. I think the fact that someone died in the car makes you think about how smashed up it is. Ray once said "It mattered to me that somebody had looked at it, and I wanted to make it matter to you." (Michael Fried, and Charles Ray, “Conversation”) about his sculpture Hinoki, but I think the same idea applies to this sclupture as well. Before I knew that I just thought oh that car is just kinda smashed up, that's kinda fancy, but after you know the context of it you look at it differently. You see every little piece of twisted metal in the car, every bend. I was picturing the car running into something and this person being thrown around the car and everyone around them rushing over to help, calling 911, and cops and paramedics showing up, the whole thing. I think it also helps for me because I have been in an accident similar to that, same side of the car smashed and everything, though obviously not as bad. So the knowledge that someone didn't make it through that really hits home. I think with me though whenever something happens in my life I always know that somehow it will turn out alright, which I believe is the opposite of Charles Ray, who seems to have a slightly more pessimistic way of viewing things.