Mark Manders

Life-size Scene with Revealed Figure

2009
Brass, wood, iron, sand, hair, dust, epoxy, rope, offset print on paper
139 x 320 x 120 cm
Collection Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minneapolis, USA

MM: This cannibalistic work, presented in a catholic way, is inspired by a horrifying ancient Greek trophy tradition. After a fight was won, ancient Greek soldiers often made huge statues on the battlefield using shields, weapons, and sometimes even dead soldiers’ body parts that were left lying in the fields. These piles formed huge warrior figures, later called tropaion, or trophy. In a cannibalistic manner I created something new by using existing imagery from as many different cultures as possible. This imagery was not lying around on a battlefield; it was scattered around the human world.