The Terry Fox Statue

[Groovenstein]

Terry Fox lost a leg to cancer. During his "Marathon of Hope," he ran over 3,000 miles on his fake leg. Somebody made a statue of him.

I like this statue because I think it shows a determined man charging on in spite of the physical disaster he suffered. I'm particularly interested in comments on this statue from people who have a strong knowledge of aesthetic philosophy.

[JMeganSnow]

I particularly like the expression on his face; determined but not grim, just really focussed.

From an aesthetic point of view, I'm not really certain this qualifies as Romantic Realism. If you were unaware of who Terry Fox was or the meaning of his struggle the artificial leg would be less of a reminder of what is possible in a good way, but a reminder that man will always be beset by troubles, pain, loss.

On the plus side, the meaning of the statue is clearly that troubles cannot hold you back, however truly Romantic statuary (in my experience) tries to indicate by its choice of subjects that troubles are not important.

I'm not tremendously familiar with a large number of schools of art, but I think this would be a sort of benevolent Naturalism.

[Hal]

Theres another photo here, taken from the front. I dont like it at all - theres no feeling of motion in the figure. He looks more like hes fighting to get his rear leg out of quicksand, or resolutely dragging along a ball and chain, than running a marathon. The face isnt particularly nice either - theres no look of determination, or of the 'blood sweat and tears' that hes fighting through to complete his goal. He looks more like a suffering convict than anything else - a ball and chain attached to the rear leg really wouldnt be out of place.

Edited September 5, 2005 by Hal

[Groovenstein]

For whatever reason, that link doesn't work for me, but I found a shot from the front. The view from the front is much different. I think I am now more inclined to agree with Hal's assessment.

[JMeganSnow]

I also agree with Hal. How disappointing. And how unfair to Terry.

[Felix]

I think it's a good thing that there is such a statue at all.

I have another link to theTerry statue and it really looks like and ode to suffering.

That's really sad. It make one think:

Oh, poor crippled Terry trying to do something with his life.

It put the thing into a completely wrong frame.

But here it looks like triumph.

Well, it depends how you look at it, I suppose.

That reminds me of a quote:

Two men looked out through prison bars.

One saw mud, the other stars.

Terry saw stars.

Edited September 11, 2005 by Felix

[JMeganSnow]

Interesting, Felix. Amazing how one work of art can look so different in different photographs. It sort of lends weight to Sherri Trascinski's idea that photography is selective enough to be considered a form of art.

[Dcyphyr_all_things]

I Like It.

[softwareNerd]

Wait a minute! Those aren't the same statue. Look where the face is looking in the two photos; look at the position of the arms; and the length of the stride.

[JMeganSnow]

I think you're right. Notice that the backgrounds in some of the statues are different, too. Freakish.

[Evan]

Here are some Terry Fox statue links:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/pl/5/52/Terry_fox.jpg

http://users.andara.com/~shebear/Terry_Fox.jpg

http://www.oshima.ca/inuvik/images/terry_fox_s.jpg

http://www.artbabych.com/Statues/page/image29.html

http://www.thunderbay.ca/media/hi_res/terry_fox_hi.jpg

There are definitely multiple statues. One of them is in some place called Thunder Bay.

[RI1138]

Yes, there are quite a few of the statues around the country, he's a semi-celebrity/martyr here.

I beleive the one that imost people are talking about is in Ottawa, near the parliament buildings.

3/4 view

front view

Thunder Bay statue

Although the statue that looks good from the side is mostly seen that way, as that side faces parliament and a busy avenue.

Edited June 24, 2006 by RI1138

[Qwertz]

The remaining bronze between the legs of the Thunder Bay statue screams novice sculptor to me. And in general, why are all these statues showing him moving? They all suggest a never-ending struggle, rather than achievement and completion.

$0.02US

-Q

[IAmMetaphysical]

I would also add that the artist should have had him landing on his fake leg, the fake leg should be supporting his weight. Like a poster said before "It loks like he's stuck in quicksand". The leg looks weak, it should be strong.

[RI1138]

He never did acheive his goal (of running across Canada with his amputated leg, he did achieve his goal of raising money/awareness for cancer). His cancer spread, and he had to abandon his run in Ontario (still quite a feat). By the way, I have never seen him depicted with his leg in front. When he ran (from what I've seen from videos) his artificial leg made him do a kind of hop, not very graceful for any kind of heroic representation.

Edited June 25, 2006 by RI1138