The Burghers of Bigelow 7

Watching women recover from surgery and endure infusions, I came to view the ever-present IV pole as a human form. It was as if a second person followed them wherever they went. Referring to Auguste Rodin’s The Burghers of Calais, (men sentenced to die in return for the end of Edward III’s siege on their city) these “IV poles” portray women dealing with thoughts of their own mortality. In the end I see it as a hopeful piece, as the Burghers of Calais were ultimately spared by the sympathetic pleas of Queen Phillipa.

life size - ash, maple, purple heart, walnut, cherry, curly birch, steel

©2000, John Magnan