Narrator: The tall base of this work is inspired by a sculpture of Zeus that Whitten saw at the National Museum in Athens. In Greek mythology, Zeus is the god of sky and thunder. He is often depicted holding a javelin or lightning bolt.
Artist, Jack Whitten: Javelins are built to kill, that’s what they’re about, as a weapon, and as a hunting implement. But what’s different with this javelin, it’s heavy, takes a lot of effort.
Narrator: Whitten’s use of metal conductors like copper and twisted nails suggests electricity. They also recall a type of Central African sculpture called an Nkisi nkondi, or “power figures.” Nkisi are often studded with nails and believed to possess healing properties.
Jack Whitten: All of this stuff was inspired by those figures. All of it. That’s where it starts. That’s the source. So that piece got both Greek, African, in terms of its source material.
Audio files of interpretation from the BMA exhibition, Odyssey: Jack Whitten Sculpture