Feldsman in response

Matt
Emerson
I doll hovers over a natural plane. It’s seems very ordinary and bland. The background is also quite plane and somewhat bland. This blandness makes the doll stand out. She is obviously the focus of the piece. Unlike her setting, she is colorful and extraordinary. The doll holds in her hands what looks to be a toy; a string and ball. The contrast implies that she does not belong on the same level. Ironically, she is literally not on the same level of the natural mountains, for she remains above the mountains. She stands on a platform, looking down over everything. She is held seemingly by strings reaching from above.
The strings are perhaps a metaphor for mans connection to God, for it is the belief of many that he favors humans. It is from this idea that triggers the idea that we are on a higher level than the rest of the natural earth. This is why she is seemingly floating. Her position in the piece exhibits a sense of importance and superiority. She dangles only slightly off set from the very middle of the exhibit, and she is at a very high level, higher even than the mountains of the earth. The ball and string game that she is holding may represent mans intelligence. In creating the ball and string toy, we produce a form of (basic) technology.
We are unlike animals. We hold the intelligence to better ourselves. We survive under the grace of God, in his favor. We have harnessed this natural world, and our importance is far superior. Do we not then have a unique connection to God? Do we not deserve to be categorized differently, on a higher plain? Or is it all arrogance that creates this false sense of greater importance? Are we simply putting ourselves on a pedestal?
This artist may very well have questioned within his life the spiritual connection that humans share. He may also see us as puppets, manipulated by the common criticism, particularly stressed by Catholicism, that we are not like other animals. He also may very well believe just the opposite. This piece of work may be a representation of his own belief in a higher connection that is explicitly experienced by human beings. Maybe it’s all a game, like the ball and string?