Retrospective Study for Dramaturgical Framework (The fighting Gaul’s next step, with elongated armature)

In this exploration of the body-politics inscribed in the antique sculptural representation of a warrior, the British artist Ryan Gander performs a close movement-based analysis of Marble statue of a fighting Gaul (second or first century BCE), from the holdings of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Through what he terms a Retrospective Study for a Dramaturgical Framework, Gander makes a copy of the historical artwork, modifying it by incorporating steel rods running through the figure’s legs, inverting its pose, and exaggerating the scale of its supporting plinth. Thought to depict a Roman enemy, the original sculptural relics consist of fragments: the upper leg, crotch, and lower torso of a male figure. Despite its broken-up nature, the original sculpture exudes a dynamic sense of motion, with one foot placed ahead of the other in an active stance, suggesting an impending attack or charge.

Drawing on the concept of dramaturgy, typically associated with theater and dance, Gander’s study dramatizes the fighter’s next step, conceptually freeing him from the immobility and passivity of sculpture and evoking a sense of agency in the represented subject. This conceptual maneuver serves as a speculative displacement, prompting viewers to reimagine the scene and engage with the artwork’s reinterpretation within the context of contemporary warfare.

(Text written by TBA21 and used as wall label in the exhibition "The Ecologies of Peace", C3A, Córdoba, 2024)