Memory Memorial: Lost Child Worried Mother

One of my first memories as a child was when I had seperated from my mother at the mall. It was Christmas of 1989 and the mall was packed with typical Jersey girls strapped to full capacity with shopping bags. I clearly remember their white washed taperpd jeans, collosal hair doused in hairspray and the fluorescent colors of the 80's pop-youth--Jersey seems to be in a bit of a time warp today.

The purpose of my memorial is to relive this moment. but on a more universal note its purpose is to convey the relationship between mother and child amongst a swarm of blank, lifeless consumers. Most importantly I want to show how the human race tends to live a life full of distractions. Also, I want to convey that shopping is by far the biggest distraction in our society.

My first goal is to epitomize the typical every day shopper. Here is an ideal example in a sculpture by Duane Hanson entitled "Shopper:



My vision is on the same lines as Hanson's but will be less represntational. The body will be completely cast in resin to give it a a "plastic" look symbolzing superficiality and lifelessness. Then shopping bags will be strapped around it. About thirty to forty will be made and placed randomly around a shopping mall.




Although the boy casts will be placed at random, its main purpose will be to get in the way of shoppers as a visual reminder of the "distraction" they are giving in to. Some will be placed in areas to distract the usual interface of a location. Body casts will be installed in beauty counters (bags included), sales racks, and scattered through out the walking area.

My second goal is to show the relationship between mother and child as well as the irony of the relationship. These two figures will be hyper-realistic sculptures and will be located very far from one another. Here is an example of how sculptures will look and where their location will be


The mother will be in the middle of shopping and will have a neutral look on her face.


and the child will be located in an area where most people tend to loiter--very distant from their mother. The child's face will also have a very neutral look.

The hyper-realism is to show how mother and child relationships a far more real than the everyday distractions we tend to get ourselves into. The far off distance between the two are to show how the relationship is then damaged once distracted with SUPERFICIALITY.