Image Overview > 18 of 20

Born in 1949 in Long Island, New York, Laurie Simmons lives in New York City. About her work Simmons says, "The big question for me is, why did my work start where it started? That’s a question I find really difficult to answer. Once it started, once I got into it, the direction became very obvious." ¹

• What do you see here? Do you recognize anything in this image? Why or why not?

Ordinary to Extraordinary
Interested in the world of television and toys she grew up with in the 1950s, Simmons started to collect toys and objects long before she even thought to create sculptures and photograph them. This photograph is one of a series of Simmons’ Walking Objects, that includes a sculpture she has made by combining doll or mannequin legs with an object. Along with Walking House, Simmons has made other similar combinations with objects such as an accordion (Sitting Accordion), a gun (Walking Gun), a globe, a microscope and a toilet. Like Walking House, seen here, Simmons highlights these sculptures with a spotlight and photographs them.

• Does knowing this information change the way you see this work? Why or why not?

• What do you think about the fact that television and toys influenced her work?

Sending a Message
In addition to Walking House other female-object combinations Simmons has created and photographed include a cake woman (Walking Cake), a purse woman (Walking Purse), and an hourglass woman (Walking Hourglass).

• What do you think about Simmons’ decisions to combine these objects with women’s legs? Would you look at Walking House differently if the legs seemed to belong to a man? Why or why not?

• Do you think it matters that the only body parts we see are legs? Would your views of the work change if you could see a head above the house? Why or why not?

1. Laurie Simmons, interview by Sarah Charlesworth, in Laurie Simmons, ed. William S. Batman and Rodney Sappington. (New York: Art Resources Transfer, Inc., 1994), 10.