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Jonathan Borofsky (American, b. 1942).
Hammering Man at 2,938,405. 1984
Corten steel
24 ft. x 11 ft. x 24 in. (731.5 x 335.3 x 61 cm)
(7,600 lbs.; 3,447.3 kg)
Gift of the Martin Z. Margulies Foundation
2005.16.1
Jonathan Borofsky is a multifaceted artist who has worked in several media including painting, sculpture, prints, complex installations, video, and light. He received a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University and an MFA from Yale University. He moved to New York City in 1966 and began to record his thoughts, observations, and obsessive counting. In the 1990s, Borofsky began to concentrate on large-scale public sculpture. His signature work in this arena is Hammering Man.
The Harn’s sculpture is one of several versions of Hammering Man in cities around the world including Basel, Frankfurt, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Seattle, Seoul, and Washington, D.C. The broad dispersal of the work demonstrates its wide appeal and universal relevance.
Hammering Man at 2,938,405 stands 24-feet high and represents the dynamic and silhouetted figure of a man cut from Corten steel. The man holds a hammer, which he raises and lowers in the repetitive gesture of an industrial laborer. He pays tribute to the universal worker, the underpaid worker, and those who still work with their hands in a mechanized world.
Borofsky’s work is often inspired by the world of memories, dreams, and free association. He draws on these levels of awareness to explore the meaning of daily existence rather than the depths of the subconscious. Mathematics and counting also act as a meditative component of the artist’s work and play a part in identifying the piece. The number 2,938,405 etched on the Hammering Man at the Harn Museum represents how far he counted by the time this work was realized.
Help support the Hammering Man at the Harn.
Dig deeper:
“Jonathan Borofsky: Nobody Knows His Name, Everybody Has His Number,” by Ann Curran in Carnegie Mellon Magazine.
“Counting and Dreams: Jonathan Borofsky as Scribe,” by Christopher Brewer in “Transpositions” blog.