Artist Response 6: Vik Muniz

Vik Muniz uses non-traditional materials in order to create astounding works of art.  His choice of materials often reflects a double-meaning he instills in his work.  His art often presents the viewer with a familiar image at first glance, however when they are looked at more closely, they are incredibly intricate images.  The piece on top, titled "Toy Soldier," is a collage of a civil war soldier, formed by fallen toy soldiers.  It is an incredibly thought provoking piece in many ways.  Two major ideas I pulled  from this piece are that war is treated as a game.  Through pop culture, video games, movies, etc. war is seen as a game, as the real-life tragedies it causes fall by the wayside.  Also, I felt that "Toy Soldier" described the way which people have become numb to the death tolls and casualties in war.  Anyone who watches the news knows that there are daily killings and horrific tragedies caused by war across the world.  Hearing about these events so frequently, however, it is easy to see them as simple statistical numbers (represented by the toy soldiers), and to forget the real humans that are devastated. The piece in the bottom right is titled "Le Songeur, After Corot."  Like his other pieces, the material Muniz chose makes it spectacular, as it is made of forty-eight thousand feet of sewing thread.  The above image doesn't really do the original justice, I found a much better copy in a library book.  The detail that Muniz is able to achieve with so thin a material is incredible.