Title: Sixteen Came Home

Creator: John von Bergen

Region: Clinton

Date: 1986

Medium: bronze

Technique: casting, welding

Dimensions: 87 inches (height) x 28 inches (width) x 81 inches (depth)

Description: Sixteen forms stand upright, joined together in the abstract form of a ship. Indeed, John von Bergen's Sixteen Came Home was inspired by Viking ships and sailors, in their positions as rowers. This work is an example of a process von Bergen began exploring in the 1980s and continues to this day. First, he creates a frame filled with sand. Next, he presses in different found objects, including items found in nature or around his studio. He particularly likes to use branches as a way to draw in the sand with their linear, yet uniquely organic, forms. Then the molten bronze is poured into the negative space created in the sand mold, and allowed to cool. The resulting shapes can then be further manipulated and welded into the finished sculpture.

Subject: Public art, Outdoor sculpture, Metal sculpture

Rights: © John von Bergen 1986

(In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/)

Find out more:

ID#: AO-00125

Location: Hamilton College, Clinton, College Hill Road, front of Molly Root House