Art That Balances Life and Death
Faculty member John Umphlett's latest sculpture, Bit Death; Life; He Blows on Them and They Wither, on view at the North Bennington Outdoor Sculpture Show (NBOSS) at the Bennington Museum through November, takes the form of a cross with angled arms–and is designed, too, for Umphlett's own entombment.
Reports The Manchester Journal:
"The exterior form of the sculpture, installed at the Bennington Museum for the NBOSS, is constructed with CNC plasma-cut 3/16 inch plate steel. The interior is ribbed with 1/8 inch plate steel, set 3 inches apart and precision cut to Umphlett’s exact measurements – built to house his body. A structure constructed of square steel tubing supports the sculpture, and serves as a base.
"On Saturday, October 5 – assisted by Bennington College students Charlie Bell, Hal Price, and Maverick Yarger and documented by his son Sam Umphlett – Umphlett encased himself within the confines of the structure.
'I get into this thing – and it’s not a performance; it’s not an exhibitionist-style thing,” said Umplett. “This is really complex, I guess, for me to even continue to wrap my brain around. I do go in it – and people don’t know that I’m in it. And that’s what’s actually more interesting to me – they’re not having the body within it to give it more value, necessarily. But when they go back to that thought post installation and post performance – there’s a self reflection.'”