Picture yourself as a hollow wooden box. If you had to fill yourself with objects and memories that best represent your character, what would you choose? Reflecting on that, it may be easy for you to answer; you would fill the box with important memories shared with loved ones, objects from your favorite pastimes, and the complex emotions that make you unique. But what would somebody else think if they saw you as a wooden box? Would they think to themselves, “What makes this person tick?” Or would they look at you and simply think, “This is a person, and they are just a wooden box.”
Marisol Escobar remains the most elusive artist of the Pop Art movement, despite being one of the most celebrated female artists of the 1960s. Amongst the male-dominated world of contemporary art, Escobar stood out for her alluring mixed media installations, which addressed topics such as gender norms, cultural identity, consumerism, and individuality. Escobar was recognized for her ability to fully retreat into her work, oftentimes assuming hypnotic states in social settings, travelling deeply into herself and the subject matter at hand. Most importantly, she was unapologetically herself — creation took precedence over all else, especially admiration.
Analyzing Escobar’s work, you would notice plaster casts of Escobar’s face adorning the various sculptures in her installations. This was seemingly an attempt to fracture her identity; in interviews, Escobar would rarely go into detail about the intentions of her work, avoiding publicity and leaving interpretation to exhibit attendees. Alternatively, it could be interpreted as a means of self-discovery, both for the individual and Escobar herself. This theme is made complicated by Escobar’s frequent abandonment of the human form; people are almost entirely represented by wooden boxes or other inanimate objects, occasionally decorated with detailed fabric, a plaster face, or drawn in appendages. Escobar sought to satirically represent the individual as unitized — informed by the consumption of modern society, stripped of individuality, and reduced to a single role. Escobar recognized the deep complexity of humans and sought to critique objectification and social subjugation.
One of my favorite pieces of Escobar’s is Love, which depicts a concrete head drinking from what appears to be a Coca-Cola bottle. While many have cited this artwork as subtly perverse, I feel that Ecobar’s true intention was blatant satire. The bottle’s positioning makes it impossible to stop drinking, suggesting that the overpowering presence of commercial culture in modern society directly influences our ability to maintain our identity. I think that Escobar’s uncompromising approach to addressing aspects of human visibility sustained its relevance in the evolving complexity of the digital age. The influence of mass media and the tendency towards cultural homogeny have continued to subvert the independence of people globally, posthumously intensifying the purpose of Escobar’s work. While I haven’t always found figurative pieces to be particularly captivating, I think there is an angst to Escobar’s work that is alarmingly familiar.
What would somebody else think if they saw you as a wooden box? I’d imagine Escobar would respond, “It doesn’t matter, as long as you know yourself.” Escobar’s piece, The Party, would teach us that as long as you can live with yourself, your identity will never falter. Especially in a world where the grass always seems greener on the other side, Escobar’s work challenges us to take pride in who we are and where we come from.
