Sakshi Lokhande

Fall 2023, Exhibition and Experience Design

Professor Brenda Cowan

ED582 Planning Design Studio
September 14, 2023
Assignment #1: “Seeing” Objects

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a beautiful and engaging space with a lot of interesting sculptures
and artifacts. I was so in awe of the displays that I found myself feeling quite conflicted in terms of
choosing one object to examine closely and write about. But then, my eyes landed on a seemingly
ordinary sculpture which, upon closer inspection, nudged open the doors of curiosity in my mind. Carved
in bronze, this sculpture was centrally placed in a huge gallery of the American Wing. Although it was a
static display, the detailing of certain elements made the sculpture come to life and reel in all of my
senses.

The sculpture was titled “Bohemian Bear Trainer”. It was a display of a man with long hair and meager
clothing, interacting with two bears. What attracted me towards this sculpture was the animated nature
of the movements and the interaction between man and animals. Visually, I found the bear cubs to be
quite adorable and the movements of the trainer, amusing and gentle. But upon reading the plaque
beside the sculpture, my mind was flooded with questions stemming from the realization of how
ignorant humans can be! As I noticed the details of the sculpture, I could easily see the superiority of the
human race over nature. The trainer’s fearless and authoritarian demeanor and the whip clasped in his
left hand told a pitiful tale of power and mindless greed. The more time I spent observing the sculpture,
the more I could feel the emotions captured in that moment. One of the most disturbing thoughts I had
was how no one would even bat an eye or look at the sculpture the same way if it was a dog or a cat
instead of a bear cub! Here the bear cubs represent every aspect of nature that humans have declared
their territory and taken shameless ownership of.

The trainer’s hands, captured mid-snap, are held just above the cubs, bringing their attention to the
‘master’s’ commands. Curiously, when I was trying to recall what the sculpture looked like, the hands
and the sound of a snap of fingers were distinctly fresh in my mind. Probably because it gave me a
multi-sensory stimulation as opposed to just visual stimulus. As I jotted down my notes, I remembered
how one bear was lazily scratching its ear while the other one was entranced by the trainer’s tricks of
teaching obedience. This created a visual contrast between the animal’s natural innocence as opposed to
the trained entertainers us humans have created.

I couldn’t help but lament the heartlessness of the human species that enables us to lord over innocent
and vulnerable animals through plays of mind. In the context of the sculpture, the bears are unaware of
their strength and follow the one they consider their master and provider. It reminds me of this story of
an elephant, chained since childhood and innocently unaware of how weak the shackles are in
comparison to its brute strength and massiveness.
As I worked on observing and seeing the sculpture, I noticed the posture and body language of the
trainer. Knees slightly bent and back hunched forward, it looked exceedingly relaxed and almost mocking
the fact that the bear cubs, who would grow to gain inhuman strength, were following and being
controlled by a mere human. After sketching the sculpture, I realized that while I could remember a lot
of the details of the bohemian man, I could not recall the minute details of the bears. I couldn’t recall
where their ears pointed to or the right posture of their movement. It made me understand the visual
hierarchy in terms of observation as well as the sculpting. My emotions shifted from intrigue and
amusement upon seeing the sculpture to pity and sadness after reading about and understanding the
deeper meaning behind it. Later, I also felt guilt and shame upon realizing how selfish we are as a
species.

I would like to close with the thought that if this sculpture was placed in a space without any context, it
would be interpreted as a playful game between the trainer and the bears with no intention of
controlling or lording over them. It made me realize how we must look deep to see beyond the obvious
in order to understand socio-cultural and artistic creations. But I also felt that the true meaning behind
displayed objects should be easier to decipher with creative use of surroundings and display techniques
as textual context can often be missed or overlooked.