Thursday Salute to Originals: Mini Metal Figurines
We encounter countless people throughout our lifetime: family, friends, acquaintances, strangers. Some leave a lasting impression; others we would never even recognize if we saw them again. The sheer number of individuals we interact with or encounter on a regular basis is astounding, its simply impossible to remember each and every face. But, artist Zadok Ben-David has a simple solution to recalling some of his interactions, illustrating and sculpting the images of those he has seen throughout his lifetime thus far.
Ben-David has created a mesmerizing artwork that is comprised of over 3,000 chemically structured pieces replicating the individuals he has encountered throughout his travels in Europe, Central Asia, the United States, Australia and Antarctica. His installation is titled People I saw but Never Met, and displays sketch-like sculptures which range in size, all immersed in the commonplace activities we partake in regularly – commuting, grocery shopping, taking walks in the park, etc. Citizens, tourists and even pets are portrayed in the piece.
Perhaps one of the more intriguing undertones of this work is the intentional monotony. Ben-David has stripped all colors, contexts, and labels; the installation becomes simply a sea of people, where individuals seem to morph together as one herd – similar to our own encounters with people that we notice, but never really see. However, just as in real life, if you look deeper into the mass and attempt to really view each person as a separate entity, you begin to understand them more as meaningful and special individuals, instead of just random members of the pack.
The installation it is currently on display at the Shoshana Wayne Gallery in Santa Monica where even more pieces have been added.
Today, we salute Zadok Ben-David’s installation for capturing the individual within the crowd, and reminding us how those daily human interactions can be both insignificant and meaningful at the same time.
Sources: Zadok Ben-David, Shoshana Wayne, This Is Colossal