Historical Analysis

Michael Todd’s sculpture Daimaru XV was created out of steel in 1981. The sculpture is located on the west side of the Sheldon Art Gallery on the UNL campus. The sculpture appears to be somewhat of a whimsical circle, as I have taken to calling it. The title Daimaru is Japanese for “great circle.” The sculpture is a reflection of Todd’s apparent obsession with Japanese calligraphy (sheldonartgallery.org). Todd holds many meanings with the sculpture, “including associations with the universe and the idea of imposing harmony on chaos.” Daimaru XV consists of both geometric and organic elements. These elements are ones that can appear in abstract paintings. This connection would make sense, considering Todd was inspired by painting and was constantly “trying to paint with steel” (books.google.com).

The material that this sculpture was made of is steel. This has a lot to do with the overall appearance of the sculpture. Most of Todd’s sculptures were made with this media. He also began to make a majority of his sculptures with the intentions of placing them outdoors. The elements of the outdoors drastically affect the overall appearance of the sculptures.

The steel sculpture was probably more of a metal or silver color when it was first created and placed outdoors. Now that it has been outdoors for almost 30 years, it has rusted because of the weather. This oxidation has changed how a person views the sculpture. It now looks much older than it really is, and could possibly look like it may fall apart due to its age. However, the sculpture is quite strong and still quite young. The weather aged it, but as it aged, it added some depth and reality to the sculpture. Everything ages and that is reflected within the sculpture because of the weather. It goes along well with the overall theme that Todd associates with the sculpture and the universe and imposing harmony on chaos. The additional stress from the weather could be added chaos to the sculpture.

Works Cited

http://books.google.com/books?id=bs3rFfPLdOEC&pg=PA168&lpg=PA168&dq=Daimaru+XV&source=bl&ots=TIfagPJn4Q&sig=IH94yjhgcGhb6nMeXyE9A9GPV4M&hl=en&ei=BAbNS9ezIoLK8wSGj8mzDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Daimaru%20XV&f=false

http://www.sheldonartgallery.org/photos/graphics/sculpturebrochure.pdf