Sculpture The Thinker by Rodin in Singapore. One of many sculptures you see around Raffles Place (MRT train station) and Bayfront MRT.
At first sight the traditional sculpture seems a bit incongruous under a modern skyscraper. The whole thing is very odd, the sculpture's position and subject. Sculpture either relects the history and surroundings, such as a sculpture of a king or God or city benefactor associated wtih the specifica location or entire city and coutnry. Or it is an implant, an escape, to contemplate, which takes you out of the hustle and bustle and stops you rushing past, to read the plaque and think about another time and another place.
Whilst looking at The Thinker, you, the onlooker, become the Thinker. The model is thinking about somewhere else, whilst you are thinking about him.
The Pose and Posture
The poor man is hunched over. He will get back trouble. Perched on that backless stone. He needs a proper chair. Whatever was the sculpture thinking. Now, if I were a Health and Safety inspector, I would tell the artist that he has to provide proper back support for his models.
Whilst looking at The Thinker, you, the onlooker, become the Thinker. The model is thinking about somewhere else, whilst you are thinking about him.
The Pose and Posture
The poor man is hunched over. He will get back trouble. Perched on that backless stone. He needs a proper chair. Whatever was the sculpture thinking. Now, if I were a Health and Safety inspector, I would tell the artist that he has to provide proper back support for his models.
I have neck ache and back ache, as you will if you carry stuff around Singpaore, whether as a resident or a tourist, your shopping, a camera.
I treat this scupture as a reminder to stand up straight. This thinker is in a sorry way. I am reminded of the phrase which a late boss used to say to me, "You think too much". He (the subject of the sculpture) isn't into mindfulness, being in the moment, aware of his surroundings, is he?
Resarching Rodin
I thought that this sculpture was old. It has been around all my life. I have known about it since I was a student and travelled to France and read about art and architecture. I also saw a small version of it inside a gallery in Prague, the capital of the Czech Replublic. However, when I went back to the internet to thcek on the locations, I was surprised to read that it dates back to the unhealthy 1880s.
My Tour Guide Potential
I would go into full details f I were a tour guide. (Any offers or requests? Actually you probably need a permit, but I could qualify as something else, translator. So I shall leave that for my next life. Meanwhsile, I shall stick to travel writing and photography and blogging.)
Researching The Sculpture
To my amazement, the history of the sculpture is that it was originally called The Poet. Poets are thinkers. They capture the thought of the moment and condense it. A poem is like a sculpture. The words focus on a visual image and the emotions it evokes, the time and the place preserved for the onlooker.
Naked Poet
Now, I am a poet. I write poety, and read aloud poetry. I do not sit in the nude writing poetry. (I sit at a desk beside a window, so my neighbours would not appreciate my sitting by a window or sliding door in the nude. I think it's illegal to sit nakes by doors and windows in Singapore, folowing complaints from families in skyscrapers who overlooked naked ladies advertising short term session in flats in blocks of flats alongside family dwellings.)
Hell
Before the sculpture was to be a poet, it was to be part of a larger work about Hell. Ah - the hell of backache. A sculpture means many things to many people.
If you think you keep seeing The Thinker, and wonder whether one well-travelled sculpture is being shipped about and borrowed for exhibitions, not necessarily. You may have seen it large and then smaller, because several copies were made in bronze from the original cast, in two sizes, so there are ten or twenty altogether, maybe large ones or twenty large and small versions, depending how you count them.
You can also buy a miniature of the sculpture to sit on your desktop or nearby shelf for inspiration, less than $100, maybe for yourself or somebody else as a gift.
Resarching Rodin
I thought that this sculpture was old. It has been around all my life. I have known about it since I was a student and travelled to France and read about art and architecture. I also saw a small version of it inside a gallery in Prague, the capital of the Czech Replublic. However, when I went back to the internet to thcek on the locations, I was surprised to read that it dates back to the unhealthy 1880s.
My Tour Guide Potential
I would go into full details f I were a tour guide. (Any offers or requests? Actually you probably need a permit, but I could qualify as something else, translator. So I shall leave that for my next life. Meanwhsile, I shall stick to travel writing and photography and blogging.)
Researching The Sculpture
To my amazement, the history of the sculpture is that it was originally called The Poet. Poets are thinkers. They capture the thought of the moment and condense it. A poem is like a sculpture. The words focus on a visual image and the emotions it evokes, the time and the place preserved for the onlooker.
Naked Poet
Now, I am a poet. I write poety, and read aloud poetry. I do not sit in the nude writing poetry. (I sit at a desk beside a window, so my neighbours would not appreciate my sitting by a window or sliding door in the nude. I think it's illegal to sit nakes by doors and windows in Singapore, folowing complaints from families in skyscrapers who overlooked naked ladies advertising short term session in flats in blocks of flats alongside family dwellings.)
Hell
Before the sculpture was to be a poet, it was to be part of a larger work about Hell. Ah - the hell of backache. A sculpture means many things to many people.
If you think you keep seeing The Thinker, and wonder whether one well-travelled sculpture is being shipped about and borrowed for exhibitions, not necessarily. You may have seen it large and then smaller, because several copies were made in bronze from the original cast, in two sizes, so there are ten or twenty altogether, maybe large ones or twenty large and small versions, depending how you count them.
You can also buy a miniature of the sculpture to sit on your desktop or nearby shelf for inspiration, less than $100, maybe for yourself or somebody else as a gift.
The Thinker by Rodin. Photo by Angela Lansbury.
Where to see The Thinker:
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Musée Rodin, Paris, France
Singapore near Raffles station, or walk from Bayfront around the waterside to the skyscrapers
Useful Websites
https://www.fishpond.com.sg/Toys/Thinker-By-Rodin-Statue-Bronze-Colour-13cm-Culture-Spot/
See my posts on sculpture in London, England. Please share links to your favourite posts.
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