Kara Walker ｜ A Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby: An Homage to the Unpaid and Overlooked

Kara Walker | Sugar Sphinx: A Giant Statue Made of Sugar

Inside an old sugar factory building slated for demolition, a sphinx approximately twenty-three meters long is sculpted from polystyrene and covered with tens of tons of white sugar, entirely pure white. Scattered around are a dozen small boy statues cast from syrup and resin, carrying baskets. Because it is made of sugar, the artwork continuously melts, oozes dark syrup, attracts insects, and emits a strong sweet and decaying smell throughout its exhibition period. The factory walls are stained with decades of accumulated black molasses, and the air is sticky. The material itself is the content of the work: the history of sugar production and slave labor. It will be demolished along with the factory after the exhibition. Wide-angle shot, contrasting the white sculpture with the black-stained walls. Avoid: using permanent materials, a clean and renovated factory, removing the surrounding small statues, the work not deteriorating.

Translated from Chinese by AI.

在一座即將拆除的舊糖廠廠房裡,一座長約二十三公尺的獅身人面像以聚苯乙烯塑形、外覆數十噸的白糖製成,通體純白。周圍散置著十幾個以糖漿與樹脂鑄成的小男孩雕像,搬運著籃子。因為是糖,作品在展期中持續融化、滲出深色的糖漿、吸引昆蟲,並散發濃烈的甜味與腐敗味。廠房的牆面滲著幾十年累積的黑色糖蜜,空氣黏膩。材料本身就是作品的內容:糖的生產與奴隸勞動的歷史。展期結束後隨廠房一起拆除。廣角拍攝,白色雕像與黑色滲漬的牆對比。避免:改用永久材料、廠房整修乾淨、拿掉周圍的小雕像、作品不會變質。