Tightrope Walker

Visual analysis essay written for my Art Humanities class at Columbia.

Tightrope Walker

I walk past the Tightrope Walker statue every day as I leave my East Campus dormitory; and I enjoy watching the pigeons which often rest on the arms of the two men, one balanced precariously on the shoulders of the other. The sight blends the natural world with our human ambitions, evoking a serenity underpinned by a hazardous, tightrope-like journey.

The material of the statue looks similar in color and composition to the other teal-faded bronze statues around campus. The exterior is not smooth nor precise, but rather feels like it was patched together out of clay. Cracks and lumps texture the skin, giving the two figures a disheveled, crumbling appearance.

Zooming in on the two men’s faces, neither look particularly calm. The man on the top stares down with an almost fearful expression at his companion. He could be looking at his friend for reassurance, possibly his own feet, or gawking at the magnitude of the fall below. The man on the bottom is staring ahead, as if he has no choice but to move forward; he must juggle the weight of his friend alongside the responsibility of stepping forward on the tightrope.

Most strikingly, the piece is held up without support. Rather, the two figures share an imprecise, yet robust center of balance which enables them to stand up on their own. The weight of the bottom man is distributed between his two feet along the tightrope, whereas the person above has his feet nestled in the valleys between the lower man’s shoulders and neck. Both have outstretched their arms, palms open, as if they were real tightrope walkers. This imbues the statue with a sense of realism; the two life-sized figures are subject to the same natural laws as the viewer—standing upright through rain, wind, and snow.

On peaceful mornings, I’ll see pigeons resting on the arms of the tightrope walkers. Juxtaposed against the balancing act, they stare blankly out and sometimes coo as I walk by. Amidst an ever-capricous New York City climate, it makes this moment of tranquility feel special. Ultimately, the Tightrope Walker captures the fragility and courage of two men trying to walk across a tightrope together—a journey which weathers floods and blizzards, but is also filled with moments of beauty; of human ambition brushing up against the absurd workings of the natural world around it.