ETERNAL SLEEP

A close look at Thomas Houseago’s Sleeping Boy I

Presentation by Sam Mayer, Zach Pearson, Kate Gouran and Eunice Han.

Though Thomas Houseago’s works seem extremely diverse, there are a few elements or characteristics of his pieces that tie the sculptures into one unified collection. In most of his sculptures, Houseago abstains from producing clear lines while still creating bold shapes. This is exemplified in Sleeping Boy I through the clumped assembly of the material. In this way, Houseago created a clear silhouette of a boy while maintaining an abstract affect to his piece. Another element that is clear throughout Houseago’s collection is his interest in the human life form. Many of his sculptures and drawings depict humans (mainly men) in unusual positions. In Sleeping Boy I, Houseago portrays a young boy sleeping with his elbow bent and in the air, an uncommon position for someone to be sleeping in. In other sculptures and drawings he illustrates men crouching and making odd or unnatural faces. In some pieces he connects certain body parts that are not close to each other on the body. In conclusion, the pieces that Houseago created are clearly an outcome of his train of thought or his own questions or interests in the world. For this reason, each piece influences the others.

The second most interesting detail about Houseago’s Sleeping Boy I is the fact that it has many skeletal features. Not only does the face of the boy look like a skeleton, but also basically half of the sculpture is made in the same disorderly and fragmented way. This is interesting because since half of the sculpture looks gaunt and skeletal, Thomas Houseago is obviously attempting to showcase death in his piece. A possible reason that Houseago puts a good amount of emphasis on death in his piece is because he wants to show the commonly thought of juxtaposition between sleep and death. Death, sometimes called eternal sleep, is a commonly associated thing with sleep. This juxtaposition is clearly visible because when you look at the sculpture, it’s almost as if you can see a sleep and death right next to each other. Half of the boy looks more normal and has a knee that’s up in the air, an action that would be impossible to do if one was dead, and the other half looks like a skeleton,; with breaks and holes in the material as well as a leg that is straight. I think what Thomas Houseago is trying to portray by using the binary between sleep and death is that they are not very different things and that people should not be as afraid of death as they are. Houseago could be attempting to say that while death is commonly thought of to be a frightening and dreaded experience, it is not so different from sleep. You lie down, close your eyes, and drift off into blissful nothingness.

The sculpture Sleeping Boy I by Thomas Houseago is featured in a location at the Storm King sculpture garden that enhances the piece. The sculpture is set high up on a hill lying parallel to the edge of the hill overlooking the rest of Storm King and the Catskill Mountains. The boy is parallel to the hill and the mountains, which makes it, seems like he is part of the earth and not just on the surface. The fact that this sculpture is almost looking down at the world makes it seem kind of heavenly like the sleeping boy might be in heaven looking down at the rest of the world. The piece is also lying parallel to 5 large stone pillars that make it look even more like the boy is in heaven. Based on where the viewer is standing, the boy can seem more or less realistic. From the right side, the piece looks fairly realistic but from the left when you can see the entire body he looks much less realistic. The way the sculpture is laid down in the grass, the sleeping boy looks like he is melting into the ground. The way he is situated with his arm and leg up matching the pillars behind him brings the viewers attention upward towards the sky giving an impression that he is growing up to the sky. The artist made many conscious decisions in the placement of this sculpture in Storm King.

The Sleeping Boy I has many details that stand out, but the most revealing detail is the fact that the boy is lying down. The overall sculpture is a boy lying down, half his body in a sleeping position and the other half in a “dead” position. The half of the sculpture where the boy seems to be dead has many details that show the bones and the deadliness. The other half shows the boy’s knee and elbow pointing upwards almost as if he was in a deep sleep. Many of Houseago’s pieces are of human figures in a standing up position. This sculpture stands out among his human figure pieces because the figure is lying down. While the artist is revealing to the audience that the boy is sleeping, the underlying message to the whole piece seems to be the binary between death and sleep. Many people say that sleep is an imperfect fulfillment of death and this sculpture show just that. The fact that half the boy is sleeping and the other half is dead illustrates the idea that many people believe of death and sleep. Houseago reveals that death and sleep go hand in hand in the sculpture Sleeping Boy I.