Question

Break the Code!

You have learned how to “decode” art! You do that by looking at the work, thinking about how it relates to you, and considering what it means. Now, try it with a selected work of abstract art.

Canyon by Robert Rauschenberg

Art © Robert Rauschenberg Foundation/Licensed by VAGA, New York NY.

Canyon by Robert Rauschenberg is a square canvas that has paint plus found objects. The paint is in neutral tones like beige and brown. The found objects include cardboard and a stuffed eagle, at the center bottom. Another found object is a pillow that hangs from a short rope below the bottom right corner of the canvas.


Use what you have learned so far and these questions to guide your reflection:

What does this artwork depict? Can you tell?
Why do you think the artist created this work?
Why might this work be considered a “great” work of art?

Answer 1

Rauschenberg's "Canyon" blends paint & found objects (eagle, pillow, cardboard) in neutral tones. No clear scene, but fragments hint at memory, nature, and the domestic. This ambiguity sparks interpretation and makes it a "great" work, defying convention and inviting personal meaning.

Stepping into "Canyon" is like entering a memory box. Neutral tones of beige and brown paint the canvas like aged parchment, while rough cardboard fragments whisper of forgotten stories. Suddenly, a stuffed eagle pierces the scene, its gaze questioning and bold. Below, a limp pillow dangles, blurring the lines between the wild and the domestic.

1. Deciphering a concrete scene in "Canyon" is like chasing butterflies – it flits and evades definition. Instead, it offers a sensory experience through its assemblage of textures, colors, and forms. The beige and brown paint evoke a sense of earth and age, while the cardboard fragments whisper of discarded stories and forgotten adventures. The stuffed eagle, perched precariously at the center, injects a jarring note of the wild, its piercing gaze seeming to question and challenge. The pillow, dangling limply below, adds a touch of the domestic, blurring the lines between the natural and the man-made.

2. Rauschenberg, a pioneer of Pop Art and Combines, was known for defying artistic conventions. He rejected the idea of art as a window into a singular reality, preferring to juxtapose fragments of our lived experience in a way that sparks curiosity and invites personal interpretation. "Canyon" could be seen as a commentary on the fragmented nature of modern life, where the boundaries between high and low, natural and artificial, are constantly being renegotiated.

3. "Canyon" challenges our expectations of what art can be. It's not about replicating reality but about creating a new one, a space where imagination and memory collide. Its ambiguity provokes endless conversations and interpretations, making it a dynamic and ever-evolving piece. Its bold innovation in merging painting with found objects helped pave the way for contemporary mixed-media art. Ultimately, "Canyon" is great because it doesn't offer easy answers, but instead invites us to participate in the creative process, to build our own meaning from its raw materials.

Remember, there's no single "correct" interpretation. This is just one possibility to get you started on your own journey of discovery.