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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Twenty Eight: Using symbols and metaphors to express meaning > A world turned upside down, Phoenix, Arizona, 2009
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07-FEB-2009

A world turned upside down, Phoenix, Arizona, 2009

The sculptor Brower Hatcher has created a project known as “A Layering of Worlds,” an arch formed by five layers of painted stainless steel mesh. Suspended within the mesh are 35 sculpted bronze and aluminum objects that symbolize the history and culture of Phoenix. One of those objects is a red metal figure of an upside down falling man. My image juxtaposes this helpless symbolic figure against part of a commercial skyline. A round white cloud floats over the tallest office building in Phoenix, implying serenity and wellbeing. Yet Hatcher’s red figure tumbles within a complex cage of steel before it – symbolizing a world currently being turned upside down by economic stress and dislocation.

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Phil Douglis17-Feb-2009 19:00
Glad you like it, Alina -- that upside down and falling red figure pretty much sums up how many people are feeling these days. In your words, helpless. The building adds essential context. If the building was not there, I would just be photographing somebody else's art. With the building in the picture, I use that art to make a statement about the global financial crisis.
Alina17-Feb-2009 00:09
I like this picture Phil. The sculpture looks like a net that is holding whole universe in it. The red figure looks helpless in it though. The building adds realism to the composition.
Phil Douglis13-Feb-2009 22:01
Thanks, Rosemarie -- I don't know if the red color references Native Americans or not. It could, since the artist's stated intention is to symbolize the history and culture of Phoenix, Arizona, which was originally settled by the Hohokam people two thousand years ago. Or that figure could possibly refer to all who have lived here, as they have passed through the tunnel of time itself. As far as this image is concerned, I used the upside down figure as a symbol of a world turned upside down by economic turmoil.
sunlightpix13-Feb-2009 21:41
I see a "red man"; did he mean it as a symbol of Native American Indians? Or is it Everyman; each of us snared in a web?
Phil Douglis09-Feb-2009 20:56
Thanks, Carol. I don't think artist Brower Hatcher had the economy in mind when he placed that figure upside down within the metal mesh arch. He created this work in 1993, almost sixteen years ago. (See the complete work here:http://phoenix.gov/ARTS/cp_37.html and Hatcher's own site here:http://www.midoceanstudio.com/ )
Working here worth another person's art, I have made an image that changes the context by isolating the falling man and juxtaposing it with the commercial cityscape in the background. When we look at this image through the lens of 2009, an era marked by economic collapse, we apply a context that is differs greatly from Brower's original attempt to symbolize the culture and history of Phoenix, Arizona.
Carol E Sandgren09-Feb-2009 19:26
Perhaps as our world of economy improves a great deal, the sculptor will change the position of the figure to reflect the more positive feelings of us all!
I know this is probably wishful thinking though....
Phil Douglis09-Feb-2009 18:07
The big building is a bank, Carol -- and the puffy white cloud hanging just over it could, as you imply, symbolize a false sense of security. Yet clouds can bring rain, and the falling man tell us that we live in perilous times. The metallic cage can represent a downward arc of our own making. If the sculptor had placed that man upright, the meaning would change entirely -- he could be ascending the complex arc of success. Thanks for coming to this image, Carol.
Carol E Sandgren09-Feb-2009 02:23
The askew position of the red figure seemingly caught in the metallic cables suggests the chaos of today's economic "unrest", and the sheer risks we face because of it. He looks hopelessly stuck as the business building just beyond might signify the Bank, with the little white puffy cloud above it suggesting artificial peace. . Beautiful captured!
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