The Nine Muses
Carlos Dorrien
Audio Tour
1990-97
MATERIAL: stone: granite
DIMENSIONS: overall: 132 in x 240 in x 360 in
EDITION: Unique
CREDIT: Grounds For Sculpture, Gift of The Seward Johnson Atelier
© Artist or Artist's Estate, photo: David W. Steele
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The Nine Muses, a multi-component grouping carved from Vermont granite, was an ambitious project made over a course of seven years. Through its title, medium, appearance, and arrangement, The Nine Muses is suggestive of statuary from Ancient Egypt, Greece, pre-Columbian sites, and other past civilizations. Granite slabs, cut and pieced together almost in a puzzle formation, form the floor of the installation, further reinforcing the allusion to an ancient temple and cleverly forming a support base without reliance on a pedestal.
The number of figures holds significance in that there were nine "muses" in classical mythology, all daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, who presided over the arts and sciences. Some of the standing figures resemble caryatids (support columns in the shape of a woman) found in Greek architecture, while others are more abstract, roughly hewn, and less clearly defined.
