Alec Aguinaldo

Professor Couch

ENG 160

22 September 2022

 

Félix Gonzàlez-Torres’ candy sculpture is a representation of someone who he held dear in his life, his late lover. Félix’s lover was Ross Laycock who passed in 1991 due to an illness related to AIDS in 1991. The candy wrappers are made to represent Ross when he was healthy, the wrappers are his exact weight of 175 pounds, his exact weight when he was. My friend and I visited the candy sculpture and told me about how unmeaningful this artwork was, and I beg to differ. 

I disagree with my friend about their opinion on the art piece. Unlike my friend, I can perceive the deeper meaning hidden behind this sculpture. The candy represents Félix’s lover and as each wrapper is taken by those that visit the art piece, the pile gets smaller and weighs less. The candy pile symbolizes Félix’s lover slowly deteriorating on the inside and outside due to AIDS. I tell my friend to try to look at the art piece again but from a different perspective after I told them what I think it means to me. Everything has a meaning whether big or small, simple or complex. Félix’s art holds integrity; his choice of using candy wrappers to represent his lover instead of something else is his own vision. Visitors that come to look at the art piece take some of the candy with them.