SCULPTURE BY TERRY L. H. SLADE

"TROPHY ROOM"

an installation about the passage of time, 1997  / 35 ft long – 10 ft wide – 9 ft high 

Wood, cardboard, brass, trophies, sound, light

"FRONT VIEW "

In the fall of 1997, I was invited to be a visiting artist at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. I constructed a site-specific installation during my two week residency. Trophy Room is about the passage of time and the goals that one pursues. The boat shape is reminiscent of a Viking burial vessel. When viewers entered into this sacred space, they were confronted with more than two hundred trophies marking various activities, each neatly placed on a boat shaped, brass foil topped table. The placement of the trophies gave the impression of a battleship. The "tomb" was bathed in light that reflected off of the polished brass foil, giving the trophies' life; yet they were all purchased at a second hand store. The moment of achievement and success that they celebrate was forgotten and put aside for some unknown reason. Any marks of the individual were painted white to make the recipients anonymous, thus the trophies became a metaphor for goals in our lives--both successes and failures. In the interior of the vessel the noise  of sports crowds cheering and booing, combined with ticking clocks and heart beats could be heard; these emphasized the seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, and years of our lives.

The installation was intended to produce a space for quite contemplation and personal reflection. A place to remember the past and to ponder the future.

"INTERIOR VIEW"

*All things ephemeral  *C'est la vie  *Circles   *Early figures  *Earth vessels   *England  *France   *Hudson   *Ladders    *Ladder paintings   *New sculpture  *Oregon    *Seeds  *Signs  *Trophy room  *Vanitas  *Vessels

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