*Note: The image above is a screenshot of how the piece was displayed on Manglano-Ovalle’s website, with the caption included.
Immediate Response:
When first looking at the image, my immediate thought was that it looked incomplete. The way the photo is framed, my eye was immediately drawn to the large polyhedron whose connective struts are randomly split between red and black coloration as if painting was not yet finished. Beyond it looking unfinished, I also found myself curious as to the circumstances in which photo was taken. Given the unfinished floor and sterile white walls, it doesn’t appear as if the photograph was taken while in a traditional display environment, but rather in some form of studio, potentially where it was constructed.
Objective Description:
Broadly speaking, Roost is split into two sections; the base and the polyhedron. The base is primarily made up of sheets of newspaper laid flat, but also strewn around in seemingly random directions. On top of that layer of newspaper are some specks, which, given the caption appear to be birdseed, rooster feathers, and rooster droppings. Atop the base is a polyhedron whose shape is made up of black and red struts forming triangular faces. For the most part, that polyhedron is hollow except for one brown pipe and a gray cylinder that lay on a lower level of the polyhedron.
Technical Decisions:
In terms of presentation, the sculpture, as presented, does not appear to be on public display, with it instead being shown in a closed area with a concrete floor and blank white walls. This contrasts with the title of the work “Roost”, forming an interesting relationship where the name would make one expect the work to be displayed in an open, free environment but instead it is portrayed as closed off. Ultimately, the image presented comes across as somewhat ironic, the nest where birds come home to roost being kept closed off as if in a cage.
The Work in the World:
Beyond the connection between the title and birds roosting mentioned above another connection that stands out to me is how the polyhedron is constructed. The polyhedron is made up of many interconnected triangles, something that is reminiscent of 3D models used with CAD, CGI, and video games. This ties into the somewhat clinical nature of how the work was presented. Despite the title implying the sculpture was partly inspired by birds roosting it is not something that is clearly apparent without that title. The sculpture itself is simplistic and barren and the idea it is based on has been abstracted and sanitized.
The Story it Tells:
Roost’s message appears to be one regarding the limitations of technology. The polyhedron nest is limited, resembling a simplistic 3D sphere while resting on a bed of newspaper that is more of a texture than anything of substance. The idea of roosting is present, there is a nest, and a perch, with feathers, droppings, and food underneath, but the emotion is missing. The nest is hollow, with the trees, shrubbery, and overhangs it might have rested amongst being replaced with bland flooring and blank walls. Technology conveyed the bare minimum, the idea but not the emotion. Data without nuance.