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Labor Day themed sculptures: Hammering Man in Seattle and beyond
Outside the Seattle Museum of Art is a kinetic sculpture called Hammering Man. The man who lifts and lowers his hammer four times per minute is one of several Hammering Man sculptures by artist Jonathan Borofsky.
Through his Hammering Man statues, Borofsky's aim is to pay tribute to the workers of the world, as well as, indicate that the world is linked together through our labors. The sculptures hammer away at the same time.
Borofsky's sculptures, in a way, are an artist's version of what Matt Harding demonstrates with his dancing. The same dance, but the location changes. (Read Jerry's Talking Travel interview with Matt here.)
The Seattle version is the second largest of Borofsky's Hammering Man creations. The largest is in Frankfurt, Germany. You can also see outside sculpture versions in Dallas, Texas; Seoul, Korea; and Basel, Switzerland. Other versions are in wood and are located at various museums.
Last summer, when we went to Seattle on the way to Montana, we passed this sculpture on a Seattle Duck's tour of the city. At the time, I didn't know that the piece was part of a larger concept and could not view the whole sculpture from where I was sitting. In order to see it, we drove back to the museum.
As Borofsky says about this particular work, "At its heart, society reveres the workers. The Hammering Man is the worker in all of us."
The statue, and the others like it, seems fitting for a Labor Day shout out.
Filed under: Arts and Culture, Festivals and Events, Stories
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Steven Sep 1st 2008 12:41PM
The Dallas sculpture is in NorthPark Center (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NorthPark_Center), which is one of the best places to do high-end shopping in Dallas.
Jamie Rhein Sep 1st 2008 11:26PM
Steven,
Thanks for the added details about the sculpture in Dallas. Your link is much appreciated. Looks like Hammering Man has good company in the sculpture department at that mall!
Janelle Sep 2nd 2008 9:01PM
Very cool Jamie - I was in Seattle wandering under the statue a few weeks ago and didn't realize it was part of a larger installation.