The Surrealists influenced Joseph Cornell, an American artist and sculpture was born in Nyack, New York on Christmas Eve, 1903. He died on December 29, 1972 at the age of 69. Even though Cornell’s father was a well-to-do designer, he never took any professional training for his art field. It was also because Joseph Cornell was wary of strangers. His work mainly included assembling boxes comprising of collages and sculptures using different materials such as metal, wood, paper, etc. Cornell’s last main exhibition was especially arranged for children and the boxes were displayed at a child’s height. He also served cakes and soft drinks at the opening party.(1)
In this writing I want to talk about Joseph Cornell’s 1948 Soap Bubble Set. The Soap Bubble Set was a box construction of 9x13x3 ¾ in. This art piece has a poetic distillation of memory and experience, which also showcases the power of objects. The white ball in the Soap Bubble Set represents both a bubble and a moon. The small blue marble next to it seems to be a planetary or heavenly body revolving around the moon. Another large marble rests at the top of the box although it refers to a bubble of a spirit level.(2)
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When it comes to ‘memory,’ I am somehow reminded of my Commemorative Medallion Relief piece named “Dada” which is on my grandfather. My piece deals with memory too since I lost my grandfather five months ago and he was a major part of my life and still is. My piece “Dada” comprises of a child, walking and facing backwards (which is me), and a lot of butterflies flying in the other direction that is suppose to represent my grandfather and his death. The pattern in the background symbolizes how carefree and protected I felt around him. My grandfather always told me one thing: “You are a real fighter only when you can smile in the most difficult situations.” I feel that this is also the reason behind the beauty of the pattern. Overall, I really like the way Cornell puts his pieces and ideas together. They are definitely different in many ways and unique but somehow everyone can relate to them.
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(1) Joseph Cornell, Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Cornell)
(2) Joseph Cornell, “Soap Bubble Set,” Art Institute: Chicago, USA (http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/99782)
(3) Joseph Cornell, “Soap Bubble Set” image (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kCFG9dVtqfs/TkFXzkQ7HqI/AAAAAAAAAGo/ux7KcHhM5gs/s1600/4929_186173.jpg)
(4) Mannat Gupta, “Dada” (https://portfolio.newschool.edu/guptm392/space-and-materiality/commemorative-medallion-relief/)