The Statue of Liberty is one of the staples of public art in the history of the United States of America. The Statue was first proposed around 1865 as the American Civil War drew to a close (history.com). It was created with the goal to celebrate the United States success in creating a viable democracy (history.com). The statue was created by the French in hopes to create a relationship between the two nations. The statue has a larger than life size reaching up to ninety-three meters which towers over a small island in Upper New York Bay, which was renamed to Liberty Island (history.com). The statue is near Ellis Island, the area where millions of immigrants proceeded through to come to America. This brings a question of what is the meaning behind this American symbol? The meaning most can take away from this statue is freedom, democracy, hope, and opportunity. This statue represents why the United States is one of the most desirable locations in the world to live. The opportunity for freedom, and access to unalienable rights not found in other nations. But, as an American do we still represent these values represented by the statue of liberty?
The problematic narrative I find is how our current Republican office is representing the meaning associated with the Statue of Liberty. The recent issues about immigration have been highly controversial around the country. One item the president proposed was the idea of placing a wall on the Mexico-United States border. The idea here is to create a boundary between countries, and try to prevent undocumented immigrants from entering our country. The president has also implemented several travels bans for specific countries. This has affected refugees from entering our country from different places around the world. Another item the president has proposed was to restrict legal immigration. This senate bill will prioritize immigrants who are highly skilled, financially self-sufficient, and speak English (Amadeo). All these proposed ideas are aimed at keeping immigrants from entering our country, but does this represent what the statue of liberty stands for? After all, the United States was founded from people escaping persecution in other countries. That’s what I find problematic about the meaning of the statue of liberty, do we still represent the symbolism for all people? So, for my project, I am going to look to modify the meaning of the statue of liberty to help represent immigrants looking to find values and rights provided from the symbolism of the statue.
To start the formal analysis of the Statue of Liberty, the main item that jumps out from the statue is the scale of the piece. The statue stands at ninety-three meters tall which is around 305 feet. This large size gives the statue a larger than life figure, making the symbolism that comes from the statue seem even more important. The next important item of formal analysis comes from the symbolism presented by the statue. The statue represents freedom, liberty, hope, and opportunity for all who live in the United States of America. The symbolism combined with the scale of this statue helps amplify the legend of the statue of liberty. Another item of symbolism can come from the torch held in the statues arm. The torch is extended away from lady liberty almost as if someone was exploring a dark area or new place for the first time. This placement of the hand and the torch could represent the search for a new land for new freedoms and opportunities. In the statues left hand we can see a keystone shaped tablet symbolizing the law (visual-arts-cork.com). There is an inscription in the tablet with the words July IV MDCCLXXVI (visual-arts-cork.com). This represents the day the Declaration of Independence was signed, and symbolizes the new laws and liberties that came from this new country. The other main component of the statue is the crown on the top of the head. The crown has seven rays coming off of it, which symbolizes the sun, seven seas, and seven continents of the world (visual-arts-cork.com). The statue is based off the female figure in neoclassical style on Libertas, the Roman Goddess of freedom (visual-arts-cork.com). The representation to Libertas helps show the connection between freedom of Americans leaving Europe in coming to the new land. Next, we can see the use of Hieratic proportion in the statue. The statues large size compared to the world around it symbolizes that the statue means something to the people that are entering our country. It serves as a landmark of American culture and architecture. All these elements help comprise the statue of liberty representing hope, opportunity, and freedom to all individuals looking to enter the United States of America.
Next, I will compare my additions to the statue to how I am looking to alter the symbolism of the statue of liberty. I have added temporary items to the statue to represent the current term of the presidency. The first thing I am going to add is a Make America Great again hat on the head of the statue of liberty. This will represent the United States only, instead of the seven continents, sun, and seven seas. This is to show how America is to come first, even though the United States is described as a melting pot of people from all around the continent. It is meant to show the isolation of the country coming from the current presidency. Next, I will place a wall before the statue of liberty. This again is to reference the current presidency as I am placing a barrier between the symbolism of freedom. This is in reference in how the President has requested to place a wall between the border of Mexico and the United States. The walls placement could represent how some immigrants are looking to escape persecution and find freedom, but are blocked by a barrier. The next item I will add to the statue is replacing the torch with a stop sign. The sign is to represent the proposed laws and ideas from the Republican office that prevent people from entering the country. One last item I have changed to the statue was decreasing the hierarchic scale provided by the statue. I have made the barely peaking over the wall to represent how freedom and opportunities appear small and distant.
The last item to touch on is who is the intended audience provided by these changes to the statue? The intended audience for this modified artwork is Americans throughout the United States. As an American you have the right to vote for someone that represents your political agenda, and the topic of immigration is usually addressed by both parties. The goal of my modifications to the statue is to have Americans question whether they want to continue supporting immigration policies by the current president .