Dog-alogue

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Freedom of speech and all of that..as long as you can endure the ensuing criticism if nobody agrees with you, of course.

A few days ago I spent a good long while photographically documenting this piece of public art. It's entitled Dialogue at Dogwatch by Stephen Brown, situated on Middle Campus at the University of Cape Town. Take a look, a good long look, and then I'll exercise my right to an opinion and see if you agree.

 View of the overall piece

 

Single figure detail

Facial expression detail

Detail of central figure (not unlike Henry Moore)

Firstly, it really is an impressively sized piece of public art. One can only imagine the enormous amount of time and effort and cost it took to construct this work and ship it here from the UK where it was originally erected. The craftsmanship is really world class, however my admiration ends just about there.
My experience of being in this space was initially one of discomfort - an intuitive feeling, an awkward feeling, not dissimilar to what I imagine it must feel like walking into a room where an inebriated couple have taken it a little too far and are dressed in too little.
It is a charged space, and for the hour or so that I was amongst the piece, every student passing by walked around and not through the space.

After some consideration, I realized that what I was looking at was not dissimilar to this:
Fragonard's Swing.

The Gaze.
In both these pieces the central female form is highlighted as men gaze upon her. The painted scene is depicting a man and his mistress in an air of seeming frivolity while her husband looks on as a darkened more serious figure. The Dogwatch similarly mixes these two aspects of playfully odd poses, yet clothed in more serious military garb and in a determined/dominating relationship with the female form. With me so far?
What I like about Fragonards work is the suggestion that the female figure may be enjoying or at least participating in this attention. The Dogwatch does not afford the female any expression whatsoever. It is this realisation that makes me most uncomfortable. Are the sculpted figures actually wooing the female, is she totally untouchable and therefore not known, or is it more of a conquest where names and faces are inconsequential? The dominating spatial position, facial expressions and exposed bits lead me to conclude the latter.
What does UCT think about it all?
I can only imagine what drunk students get up to here at night!

Ugh!