News Article: “Sculpture for MSB a ‘living’ work of art”

This artifact contains the inspiring story of a man making a difference for blind children. Martin Eichinger is an American sculptor from Michigan. His father was an influence for him, being a graphic artist but his biggest inspiration was his 7th grade art teacher. Eichinger did post graduate work in sculpture at Michigan State University after studying design and anatomy at Ferris State University. He also studied classical sculpture in Europe. Although he is very familiar with anatomy, he does not consider himself a figurative artist. He refers to himself as a narrative artist and tries to portray art that is emotional and mythic: ​“I want my sculptures to be mythological in that they speak to others who, like me, are formulating new values and are looking for a new sense of meaning in art and in life" (citation?).

Eichinger accomplished portraying meaning in his art for others in a sculpture at The Michigan School for the Blind in October of 1981. The artwork is located on the west side of the school campus near the Athletic Field. He wanted people to understand why he dedicates his life to art: “by sharing story and emotion through the human form I feel connected in a deeper way, both with the people who view it and, perhaps most importantly,​ ​to the sculpture I am working on. I feel that my artwork is complete once I sense that it has entered someone’s life in a meaningful way" (citation?).

On October 14th, 1981, children at the school for the blind was able to feel the sculpture called “Aqueous.” On and inside the "Aqueous" is braille so the children were able to “interact” and partake in viewing the work in some sense. Braille is a form of written language for blind people. Characters are represented by patterns of raised dots. Eichinger stated that he is interested in having his sculptures say more about us as a people, about our spirits or our aspirations. For a child who is blind, it is important for them to know they can still have hopes and dreams even though their life may be challenging on a daily basis. The same goes for those with any type of disability. The "Aqueous" sculpture is very accessible so even children in wheelchairs can go inside of it. The sculpture is smooth on the inside and rough on the outside. It is described to look like a curving ocean wave.

The artifact shows an image of "Aqueous" on the top right. It also explains how Eichinger was inspired to do his sculpture because of a play The Miracle Worker. The play is about Helen Keller having a breakthrough (in ?). Although Eichinger has seen the play many times, it still has a deep impact on him. He explained how the play made him feel in the article saying it brought tears to his eyes. There is a meaningful relationship between Helen Keller and her teacher, which Eichinger says shows the meaning of the Michigan School for the Blind. Another reason he created the sculpture was because of a former graduate student of the school, Jerome Jackson. Jackson told his experience as a child at the school and how he would climb a fallen tree in the yard. He said it became so many things in his imagination. Eichinger thought of using his sculpture in the same sense for children’s imaginations. Using braille for the sculpture made it so the children could still use their imaginations but also understand the reality of it.

There was controversy over why Eichinger wanted to spend his money on an outdoor sculpture considering how fast it could get ruined because of weather changes. Despite this he went through with the sculpture. He spent hours upon hours of experimenting with different materials such as fiberglass and moulded rubber. He came to multiple problems while going through the process of building the artwork but had engineers and other specialists to help him. A big part of his process was trial-and-error. As he was going through the process of creating "Aqueous," he was in search of a poem to go along with it. Later on at a museum in Boston, a woman (who? and how is she related to Fitchburg?) came up to him and recited a poem that his artwork reminded her of. The poem is:
Mother of all, and mother of me;
Boundless bosom that is the sea,Hold me close, your ocean child,
Child of the sea, by thee beguiled.
This poem was perfect (how?) for his theme of "Aqueous."

https://www.jones-terwilliger-galleries.com/Artist_Entry/openeichinger.html https://wooarts.com/martin-eichinger/nggallery/image/martin-eichinger-sculpture-wooart s-com-02/