‘Leviathan Thot’ is an installation artwork that was installed in the 'le Panthéon in Paris in between the 15th of September and the 31th of December in 2006. Ernesto Neto’s artwork is made from Lycra tulle, polyamide fabric, and Styrofoam balls.
The centre of the artwork features a white structure stretched in four directions and starts off thin and begins curving and stretching out at the base of the artwork. This centre piece of the artwork is filled with holes which gives it the appearance of stretched out gum or taffy. Around the centre are drop like structures that are made from Lycra tulle, these start thin before coming to a bulging shape at the bottom of the structure. This bulge is created by placing Styrofoam balls at the base of the tear shaped structures. This creates an organic look to the sculpture as it imitates the biomorphic nature of raindrops and tears. At the top of the central piece the gum like structure stretches out to join with the surrounding structures, this gives it the appearance of a spider’s web or veins. Smaller ‘droplets’ can be seen coming from the top of the structure, however these ‘droplets’ are more oval in shape and take on the appearance of egg sacs. Ernesto Neto uses a wide variety of elements and principles to create his artwork ‘Leviathan Thot.’ Line however can be considered one of the most important elements in Neto’s artwork. The lines around the top of the middle structure can be described as thin, loose, and light; these lines are used to help create the stretchy like aesthetic of the artwork. The lines begin to thicken as the artwork moves down, with the base of the structure having the thickest lines. The lines are also organic in order to create the natural like appearance of the spider webs around the centre and the droplets around the perimeter of the artwork. The Shape in Neto’s “Leviathan Thot’ can be described as organic due to the nature in how his artwork takes on the appearance natural organisms such as water droplets and spider webs. The bottom of the droplets take on a very rounded shape.Ernesto Neto also uses form in this artwork, as he uses it to create the mass and bulbous shapes of the water droplets. Form is also uses to create the concaving nature of the central piece of the artwork. Neto also uses the principle of Unity and Space in his artwork. Neto’s use of unity can be seen throughout the whole artwork, this is done through the relationship he builds with the centre and outer sections of Leviathan Thot. The artworks sense of uniform is created through the similarity in the droplet like structures and the harmonised nature of the stretchy centre piece. Space is also a huge feature in Neto’s artwork ‘Leviathan Thot’ as lots of negative space is seen between the holes in the central structure. The space in Neto’s artwork is also very illusionary as the depth is very shallow and is limited to the surface of the artwork. A common way of interpreting the meaning behind Ernesto Neto’s artwork ‘Leviathan Thot’ is that it is about a story in the Old Testament in the bible in the book of ‘Job.’ The story the artwork is thought to be about is about the sea creature known as ‘Levianthan’, hence the title of the artwork. I can see Neto’s depiction of the sea creature through his use of bulbous and curving nature of the hanging droplets. His depiction of Levianthan can also be seen through the stretched shapes and the thin lines of the main structure of the artwork. I can also see this artwork being a depiction of Leviathan through his use of no colour and how the artwork is harmonised and balanced. Personally I feel Ernesto Neto’s artwork ‘Leviathan Thot’ is both aesthetically pleasing to look at and it displays its message in a clever and unique way. The way Neto uses shape and line to create the thin spider web like structure of the artwork and the bulbous shape of the raindrops, in my opinion is very aesthetically pleasing as it creates a gooey, stretchy like appearance for the artwork. I also feel that these use of line and shape also work very well in displaying the message behind Neto’s artwork. |