Fox Games

Fox Games- By Sandy Skoglund - sandyskoglund.com

This art piece is a mixed medium sculpture. It has a distinctly contrasting style, with only two colors in the entire piece. There is no single focal point in the piece, as the piece can be viewed from many angles, and there are many scenes to view. (There is a path down the middle) This artwork depicts real things, like foxes and tables, but it is left abstract in its interpretation. If you focus on the foxes, the atmosphere in the piece is cheery and playful. The atmosphere is solemn and depressing if you look at the red tables. The single red fox, which holds something that it has hunted in it’s mouth, gives a sense of the realism of the piece; it brings back the fact that although the foxes are mostly at play, there is still a need for sustaining life.

I think the artist was trying to convey a depiction of the futility of human existence. I think that the tables and chairs represent all of the formalities and the best laid plants of civilization. The foxes represent the wild, which still lives in and around all of us. The stark color difference represents humanities attempt to separate man and nature, but the fact that the foxes occupy the same physical space and that they are not at all deterred or subdued, represents the failure of this attempt of humanity.

I like the high-contrast, but also high-detail style that the piece was sculpted in.

The moral of life that is portrayed by this piece is what I find most attractive about it.

I do not like how brightly lit the piece is; I think that more varied lighting would give more depth to the piece. I also do not like the supporting materials, such as the wire that was required to hold some of the foxes in their proper positions.