Jacob Edwards Museum visit

For the visual formal analysis assignment, the viewer visited the gallery in the UTA Fine Arts building featuring works by Rimer Cardillo. I chose to analyze his photo-silkscreen on paper Duck with Bones, 1991-93. There are no overt outlines but there are light shades of white and grays on a dark background that cause the light shades to stand out and emphasizes the form of the duck. The lines on the feathers correspond with the direction of airflow around the duck as it flies. The long lines of the edges of the femur bone emphasize the direction of growth of that same bone. There are also curved lines that define the shape of the rib bones and the joints of the long bones. The lines of the body of the carcass direct the viewers’ eyes down to the head, which is at the bottom of the image making it very clear that this duck is dead and the downward direction reminds the viewer of the tradition to bury the dead. The femur on the left side of the image is positioned at the same angle as the line from the head to tail of the duck and is in roughly the same position on opposite sides from each other thereby establishing symmetry and balance.

There are many varied, irregular, and organic shapes in the pile of bones and the duck carcass. The objects are in the work as this is a silkscreen. These figures are timid, weak, and grotesque due to being dead. The size of the femur bone is the same size as the duck from head to tail. The various other bones are also of similar size to various parts of the carcass. The form created by shape and line fill approximately two-third of the space of the composition. If the ground or soil underneath the bones and carcass is considered an object then there is no negative, or empty, space but if the ground is simply a background and not an object then about one-third of the composition is negative space. Although a two-dimensional object, it visually projects into the viewers’ space with depth created by the layering of the bones.

The source of the light is implied; whether it is a natural or artificial source is unknown. It could be either sunlight or a camera flash. The shadows are true to life and are depicted through color changes that create depth. White, black, and many shades of gray dominate the work and emphasize death, as colorless and lifeless can sometimes be synonyms, and creates a somber mood. Atmospheric or aerial perspective is not used.

The actual texture is unknown as the viewer is unable to handle the work but the implied texture is rough for the surface of the bone, soft for the feathers, and grainy for the soil. There is more than one focal point in the image creating interest in multiple aspects of the work. The head of the femur is brighter than the distal end at the knee joint and the down of the underbelly is ruffled drawing attention to that side of the work.