Phoenix
J. Seward Johnson Jr. - Sightseeing
1850 N Central Ave, Phoenix
Central Arts Plaza is a great place to take those who are visiting the Valley of the Sun. It boasts beautiful grounds, a huge fountain, and wonderful sculptures. One of those sculptures, Sightseeing, by J. Seward Johnson Jr., is an example of art imitating life. As visitors to Central Arts Plaza pull out their phones to capture the beauty of the landscape, they will encounter this piece of art, a sculpture of a man with a camera taking his own pictures. The viewer now becomes the object being viewed.
The curator of Central Arts Plaza has set Sightseeing so the man looks like he is taking a picture of the leaping children that can be seen on the grass in Glenna Goodacre’s sculpture Puddle Jumpers, which includes six children out enjoying the grass and each other’s company. You can imagine every father at Central Arts Plaza doing the same with his own children, capturing the moment digitally, as they experience the grounds.
Sightseeing is also a great history lesson, as the photographer subject is using a camera that looks like a polaroid camera from the early 1960’s. This step into history provides the viewer with more to think about, comparing the commitment of a film-generated physical photograph to our more casual digital photographs that can easily be deleted if we are unhappy with the results.
Overall, Johnson takes us to a world we may not be familiar with, but by using an inanimate object, like a bronze sculpture, we can safely explore that other time; not only to appreciate it, but hopefully to also learn something new.
Johnson’s work is highly realistic, as can be seen in two other sculptures of his located at Central Arts Plaza. You can read about both of them at the following Greater Phoenix Public Art links:
Central Arts Plaza currently has seven pieces on view, all of them worth your time.
Last verified 10/2020.
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