To Be King (Sculpture Component)

The sculptural component, the Black Infanta embodies everything the Spanish King, Philip IV is not. Her pose imitates that of the seventeenth century portrait paintings of royal children. She is placed on an enlarged headrest, an object associated with sleeping, dreaming and the unconscious and holds instead of a sceptre, orb or sword, a stick made of Port Jackson willow. The Black Infanta’s placement in front of the ‘painting’ places her in the role reserved for the king for whom Las Meninas was originally made and who also stands outside the frame of the painting. Completing the circuit of gazes is the museum guard who role is witness to the viewer looking at the ‘painting’. In addition she functions as an ironic indicator of status, an embodiment of the value placed by the cultural centre on a ‘masterpiece’.

Black Infanta

• Dimension: 55 x 60 x 1 740

• Materials: Urethane resin, fabric and wood 

• Placement: The sculpture, faces the projection and is placed approximately 4m from the projection.