‘Support’ is a sculpture created by Lorenzo Quinn, an Italian artist. It was put up on May 13, 2017 for the 57th Venice Biennale and will be taken down November 26th. The sculpture is two hands coming out of the Grand Canal and ‘supporting’ the building, Ca Sagredo Hotel. The sculpture was created to talk about climate change and how rising sea levels are affecting and are going to affect cities like Venice that are built near the ocean.The sculpture shows how the hands are holding up the building as if it is sinking. After hearing scientists talk about Venice becoming a lost and sunken city in the next century, Lorenzo Quinn created the sculpture to show how the hands could help support the building and yet could take it down just as easily.
The past week my mom and I were in Venice, Italy. Venice is a city of canals and is a total maze when it comes to walking around, full of small alleyways and bridges. This city is a UNESCO world heritage site and is made up of 118 small islands making it unique in the fact that it is the only city in the world like it. Instead of taxis you can take a water taxi or maybe you want to jump on the bus which by the way is also a boat. Another unique way to get around is definetly the Gondolas. Gondolas are driven by men wearing striped shirts and black pants. This slow moving boat is supposedly very romantic and sweet with beautiful boats to enjoy while moving along the canals. Some of the gondoliers still sing as they guide their boats across the water. We were in Venice to see the art that was there during the Biennale as well as at the city’s many museums and galleries that were also open during the time.
We were very excited to see this sculpture, Support, as it is very powerful and is talking about climate change. We took a water taxi out on the Grand Canal to see the the sculpture after a day of walking around the canals. Climate change is so important to talk about as it is the thread that connects most endangered animals and does effect every single animal on the planet including us. We love it when people can create art based on such and important topic!
Lorenzo Quinn created this sculpture using a old method known as “lost-wax casting”. The process involves casting the mold using a wax model of the sculpture. Lorenzo has three children and he chose to model this sculpture after the hands of one of his sons. He says, “I have three children, and I am thinking about their generation and what world we’re going to pass on to them. I am worried, I am very worried.”
In an Instagram post he said that Support, “wants to speak to the people in a clear, simple and direct way through the innocent hands of a child and it evokes a powerful message, which is that united we can make a stand to curb the climate change that affects us all.” The sculpture represents how humans are just like the hands, as they are destroying the planet yet they could also help save it.
He sculpts parts of the body often but he enjoys using hands in his work as he thinks they are capable of so much. “I wanted to sculpt what is considered the hardest and most technically challenging part of the human body. The hand holds so much power – the power to love, to hate, to create, to destroy”
Support is a fascinating sculpture created by a environmentally aware artist named Lorenzo Quinn. He understands what is happening to the Earth and he understands what we can do to save it. He knows that humans are both the cause and the solution and that if we care enough we can still help SAVE THE WORLD!!!!!
Endangered Activism 