A new presence on Brock Commons has arrived through the Brock Commons Outdoor Sculpture program. "David," Matt Evald Johnson's 12.5 foot tall robot constructed from forged and fabricated reclaimed steel, is located by the Janet D. Greenwood Library. The sculpture will remain on view until spring 2014.
Through the Brock Commons Outdoor Sculpture Program, three graduating Longwood University art students select three pieces of artwork. The artworks displayed on campus are meant to be temporary, "assuring a variety of form, style and content," as detailed on the Longwood Center for the Visual Arts (LCVA) website. None of the works are purchased by the university.
On Monday, April 2, Johnson spoke about his artwork and his interpretation of what makes good art in room G12 of the Chichester Science Center. Johnson presented photographs of his artwork and art studio in conjunction with his lecture. According to the LCVA website, Johnson's sculptures are made out of welded items like automobile parts, chains and pipes in his Massachusetts studio.
Johnson said, "I first got into robots because of my son. When he was about two, he was a robot enthusiast, and to some degree still is. And I started making little ones out of junk for him." Johnson added, "Once I kind of got in the zone of that, I started to see the figurative potential of what I could do with this, and I looked at my bone yard, and I saw all these great pieces that I started to imagine as body parts and things. So, it was a real natural thing to do to start making big." Johnson said studying anatomy and proportion supports the artist in thinking about the figure of the human body, though he noted that the importance of learning such skills is for them to be utilized to produce emotional or psychological tones through gesture.
As seen in Johnson's sculpture, "David," the figure stands confident and victorious, one foot atop the robot head of Goliath. The scene conveys the aftermath of the battle and the shock of the accomplishment of victory through circle-shaped eyes and a mouth. For Johnson, emotions are "not distributed through the anatomy. [They're] not distributed through the correct proportions. [They're] always distributed through the stance and the gesture, which is a very formal thing. It's a reduced thing."
Johnson discussed the lack of importance of titles in his artworks, expressing that he works for the viewer to enjoy the work without the need of one. While some artists may utilize the title for the viewer to further experience or understand the work, Johnson noted, "You don't really need a title to get it, not from me." The majority Johnson's sculptures are bare of paint, exposing the color of the steel underneath. "I don't like to paint things. I rarely do," he said, expressing regret for painting one sculpture displayed a vibrant red color.
"Eventually, I guess maybe the nature will wipe it clean," he said, later adding, "In terms of experiencing the sculpture, I probably would've been better off leaving the paint off of it and letting the steel - which is what I really care about - letting the steel be itself, and show and exhibit the process rather than kind of hide the process." While Johnson expressed no interest in painting his sculptures, he displayed a few paintings of his, featuring multiple urban landscape scenes. "I do a fair amount of paintings. I do less paintings mainly because I feel like there's a timetable on my body in terms of doing sculpture, and my retirement plan is basically painting. So, I'm going to wear myself out best I can on big steel sculptures," said Johnson.
To view more of Matt Johnson's artwork, go to his website at www.evaldart.com. The Brock Commons Outdoor Sculpture program is sponsored by the Longwood Center for the Visual Arts, the Office of Capital Planning and Construction and the Office of Facilities Management. The Longwood Center for the Visual Arts is located on 129 N. Main Street, and is open Monday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, go online to www.longwood.edu/ lcva or call (434) 395-2206.
Matt Evald Johnson's "David" stands triumptly in front of the library.
