Assignment 1 Final
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. The Art Institute of Chicago says that they replace the candy taken by visitors and have to dump around 15 pounds a week, or even 45 pounds when the institute is busy. Hopefully, after a little explaining my friend comes around and sees the art piece differently than when they originally first took a glance and gave their opinion.
Considering the meaning of an art piece is very important because there could be more than just one meaning. The artist could have a single meaning in mind when they first start on their art piece but later on, it could mean so much more than it intended to. Each person that would later see an art piece on display may think of the meaning of their own, ponder a bit and have that meaning expand into a new idea. The consideration of ideas about a singular art piece is endless, and hopefully, my friend that came with me would understand this now with me. Art is more than just a physical representation, but is a mental exploration of the mind that can be different for everyone. Art has multiple shapes or forms, it doesn’t have to be a painting on a wall or a pile of candy wrappers in a corner. Everything has originality but, not everyone’s art piece is the same. Duplicates can be different as well, no matter how identical to the naked eye. Art in some shape or form can be living. The workers refill the wrappers to keep Félix’s work to its original state, keeping it ‘alive’. The original wrappers that Félix once placed could no longer be there, only the new replacements that will soon be taken by visitors, such as my friend and me.
Félix Gonzàlez-Torres’ is appreciated by many of those who come to visit his work and give their condolences to his past lover. His artwork has a single meaning that he envisioned when coming up with the candy sculpture. Possibly my friend leaves the Art institute with an appreciation of Félix’s work instead of thinking that the sculpture has no meaning. Countless people that see the sculpture for the first time could assume the same thing as my friend, while others like me, know the significance behind this art piece.