Monday, March 30, 2009

My World: "The Awakening" at National Harbor

The Awakening, a surreal art piece made of five distinct components, dominates a portion of the National Harbor grounds off of the Potomac River. Originally installed in Washington, D.C.'s Hains Point, the sculpture (by artist J. Seward Johnson, Jr.) was moved to National Harbor a couple of years ago. I had never seen the original installation at Hains Point but was thrilled to come upon it at National Harbor.


The ground appears to be barely able to contain the man caught in the act of trying to claw out of the earth. A foot, a palm, an arm and a leg are bursting out of the mud, while the face is contorted - a combination of anger, fierce determination and effort twisting the facial muscles into an evil grimace.




The detail in the musculature, the sinew and the expression is awesome.


Speaking of Hains Point, a dull, dreary and wet Saturday morning found my son, Altoid (a fellow blogger and now friend!) and I making the rounds of the Tidal Basin on foot.

It's easy to miss seeing Washington, D.C. - really seeing it - when you are driving on its congested roads, navigating the countless traffic lights, road blocks and pot holes, when you don't have a choice but to drive in the city for business you need to take care of.

But in the quiet of the morning, with nearly deserted streets, the rain washed monuments standing sentinel over their city and waiting for its denizens to rise, the car riding on slick streets with a whisper of a swish, the street lights casting a halo around themselves and lighting up the misty rain as it fell softly on the ground, in the quiet of that morning, the city was downright handsome, in the tall, dark kind of way.

I leave you with some photographs from the Tidal Basin this past weekend.












This is part of my world. For other My World posts, visit My World Tuesday.

All text and photographs are copyrighted. Please do not copy or use without written permission.

35 comments:

Anonymous said...

that is some sculpture. i am sure that it affects people who see it.

and by the way, your blossoms are coming along nicely.

happy spring

Sylvia K said...

Sujatha, this is a fabulous post! And the statue is incredible! It has to have quite an affect on people who see it. Your shots around the city, the trees --all of it are just gorgeous! Thanks so much for sharing. Hope you're well. Have a great week!

ninja said...

Amazing sculpture and in a nice setting.

Louise said...

Those trees are magical, absolutely enchanted. I like the foot,too.

Sands said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sands said...

Suck lovely pictures. Makes me want to come back and visit the city that was my very first port of entry to this land that is now home. I have loved DC since that cold dark night when I saw her the very first time :)

Guy D said...

That sculpture is incredible, also I love the green shots in your later pics, very impressive.

Have a great week!
Guy
Regina In Pictures

Eleonora Baldwin said...

Stunning photos of those trees, and such a disturbing sculpture. It conveys energy and strength, but I just hope the force of the struggle ends in a positive outcome. The man's actually going to emerge or is he sinking in the sand? Perhaps seeing it "live" one can perceive it more clearly.
Your blog image is one of those trees, correct? Beautiful.

SandyCarlson said...

And what a view it is!

Indrani said...

I was stunned by that sculpture. (@_@)

Yogi♪♪♪ said...

Great picture of a marvelous sculpture. Great bonus in the other pictures. I'm guessing those are cherry tree blossoms?

Kavi said...

Awesome scultpture ! it sure is something !

:)

Thanks for sharing

Arija said...

No wonder the poor guy's face was contorted, he has severe cramp in at least his foot if not his whole leg!
I love the massed blossom trees and your lyrical description of the early morning in your town.

Choxbox said...

next trip to oosa - if/when it happens - will certainly stop at DC.

Nino's Mum said...

wow... that's a beautiful sculpture and a very vivid description. How did the kids react to it?
and to veer off the topic a bit, are you all packed and ready to go?

shaker said...

Very impressive !

~nm said...

looks like such an amazing sculpture..

Esther Garvi said...

Lol, great pictures but I am sure I would have enjoyed the second park more than the first!! :-D

Lakshmi said...

love your world..both natural and artistic..:)

Jenn Jilks said...

Lovely shots!

Sujatha Bagal said...

Thanks all for your comments. The sculpture is something, isn't it? It's just stunning to look at and the concept very, very interesting. It's not scary at all.

NM, the kids were not scared or anything. They just ran around and jumped all over it. :)

Sujatha Bagal said...

@ Loal, yup, the header is one of the pics from this lot.

Anonymous said...

That sculpture IS stunning, I'd love to see it in person. Lovely pictures, and the overcast day seems like the perfect backdrop. Could a small child crawl into the man's nostril?

The cherry blossoms are beautiful, brought back fond memories of our rather rushed DC trip years ago. There are trees here in Bangalore, with pink blossoms that look very similar (started blooming in March). But I don't know if they are cherry blossoms, have to investigate.

-DS

Latane Barton said...

Love the cherry trees. Aww, springtime in D. C.

naperville mom said...

I LOVE LOVE LOVE these sculptures and lucky you, to be living so close to them:)

Erin said...

so agree with you about seeing d.c. when no one is around...and your photos are fab.
thank you for sharing with us...and of course thanks for the cherry trees :)

Jinksy said...

The sculpture is nothing if not awesome.

Jenn said...

What an interesting piece of art. And I love the colors of those trees.

Debbie said...

What great photos. I haven't been there but I would love to go.

Anonymous said...

Awesome photos Sujatha! The Tidal Basin pics blew me away! Beautiful!
The sculpture is fantastic. Thanks for sharing them.

Cheffie-Mom said...

Wow, the sculpture is unbelievable - powerful in a way. Thanks so much for stopping by my blog. Your blog is great. I will be back.

radha said...

lovely trees. lovely sculpture.

Priyanka Rajkhowa said...

Been in the vicinity of DC for quite a few years now...unfortunately haven't had a first hand view of "the Awakening" yet...quite a formidable piece of art, I must say !!! A visit to see it will have to be moved to the top of my to do list , for sure,now :-))

Priyanka Rajkhowa said...

Have been in the vicinity of DC for quite some time now...unfortunately have never had a first hand view of "the Awakening"...quite a formidable piece of art, I must say...a visit to see it has to be moved to the top of my "to do" list , for sure, now!!

Sniffles and Smiles said...

Sujatha,
These are absolutely beautiful! I love the Cherry Blossoms around the tidal basin...And oh, the awakening is such a beautiful piece!!! I have seen it as well, but you have captured it beautifully with your lens... Thank you for sharing these with the bloggie world! Your gift brings a bit of Spring sunshine into all of our lives! ~Janine