Gandydancer’s Dream
Mark di Suvero (American, born China, 1933)
Created 1987–1988
I never had much feeling for this piece so Rome went around to read the plaque so we could maybe learn something about it and then like it better. We did learn something about it and I do like it better!
“”Gandy dancer” is a slang term for a railroad maintenance worker originating in the late 1800s. Gandy dancer crews were known for accompanying their laborious, repetitive work with singing and dancing. Although the connection between this abstract work and its title is elusive, the jagged steel of di Suvero’s sculpture and its kinetic elements can be related to the rhythmic labor on the railroad.”
And then the guard reminded us that it was the Chinese who built much of the railroad (although a gandy dancer was more likely African-American), and the artist was born in China – so ok ok!