-Our Empire 1914

Curator: Today we’re looking at a work titled "-Our Empire," created in 1914. This mixed-media sculpture is currently held at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Editor: Well, isn’t that charmingly, aggressively patriotic! All that wood and the deeply carved details give it such a sturdy, almost solemn feel. Like it’s announcing something…or trying to convince itself of something. Curator: The piece definitely makes a statement. The artist employed mixed media and carving techniques to bring this work to life. I am struck by the detailed carvings – the floral garland and other features framing the image in relief really command attention. Editor: Right? It's that tension between the kind of delicate, art nouveau ornamentation and the blunt assertion of "Our Empire" that really gets me. And that profile cameo...so stern! Is it trying to harken back to ancient Rome? Curator: In a way, yes. I can certainly understand the ancient Roman aesthetic you mentioned as there is that authoritative edge. Note the geometric structure underlying all the decorative elements—a semiotic statement about power through order and clarity, which may have been very popular back then. Editor: Maybe they're saying empire equals good accounting practices? Because the added wording includes “BANK,” right, next to the grand announcement about our empire? Curator: Exactly. That phrase combined with a crowned coat-of-arms reinforces the idea that the work celebrates some form of powerful union in that era, like a visual encapsulation of national pride interwoven with financial stability, perhaps speaking volumes to society at that point. Editor: It’s a bizarre object, really – clunky yet refined, celebratory yet a little anxious. Like someone desperately trying to sell you on something while simultaneously whispering doubts in your ear. Curator: I agree, there's a very complex, uneasy feeling about it. Almost contradictory elements playing out right before us. Thanks for unpacking it all! Editor: My pleasure! It’s these kinds of artistic tensions, don't you think, that help reveal what a moment was actually *like* versus what people wanted others to *think* it was like. Food for thought!