Giulio Gavotti's Decision Sculpture

The title references an Italian pilot responsible for the first air-dropped bombs (four grenades) on November 1, 1911 and asks the audience to consider the implications of their choices. In this piece, eighty-one bomb-like lathe turned cherry blocks, placed in nine groups of nine, stand as an ironic testament to the mass production of war munitions. With this artwork, wooden blocks have been hand-crafted into precious representations of destructive projectiles designed to detonate in an exothermic reaction. Contrary to real munitions, each wood turning is unique and stands as an individual despite following the same basic design format. Each group of nine is clustered closely together, projecting outward from the wall, giving the sense of freshly dropped bombs beginning their descent. By intentionally leaving the marks from the lathe, which can give the indication of the urethra, the pieces take on the connotation of the phallus. This suggests the merging of the organic and the mechanical within this piece and generates an uneasiness in the viewer. A further heightening of this reaction takes place from the gentle swaying of the forms on their steel-rod mounts. Perhaps this is an uneasiness that is capable of overcoming the detachment caused by the distance allowed us through methods such as aerial bombardment. This anthropomorphizing turns the arms race into a literal dick measuring contest.