hobby horse.

hobby horse is a combination of performance and sculpture that Smith created as part of an artist residency at artpace san antonio in 2006. The work consists of two pieces: 1. the sculpture of the hobby horse itself and 2. the performance in which smith, dressed in a replicated civil war uniform, rides the hobby horse and sings a re-written rendition of the civil war rallying tune “when johnny comes marching home.”

civil war . . . war in iraq.  what are we fighting for?

as with her other works, in hobby horse, smith uses the backdrop of the civil war to comment on current issues. here she attempts to draw a comparison between the civil war and the current war in iraq. She does this in two ways. first, is her performance of the song “what are you fighting for?” set to the tune of “when johnny comes marching home,” smith replaces the original celebratory lyrics with her own that speak about living in a divided time, at a place of cultural impasse. riding in place on the hobby horse is also meant to suggest being in a state of cultural impasse.

cultural impasse? 

by this smith just means that we are stuck in place.  deadlock. stalemate.  we are in a bloody and difficult situation in which no progress can be made.  people are divided over the war in iraq, in smith’s opinion, like people were divided against each other during the civil war.  we don’t know what to do, so we ride in place. 

monument to war?  anti-war metaphor?

At first glance one you come to think that this piece has an anti-war message and while she sings lines such as “I’d like to visit soldiers in Iraq/And one by one I’d bring each soldier back,” she also sings “This horse is not a monument to war, nor is it an anti-war metaphor. “ so we think smith’s message is for people to examine what they are fighting for — not only in terms of war, but also in their own personal battles. the comparison to the civil war also suggests that — even though we are currently divided as a nation in terms of our ideologies concerning the war, perhaps something positive will come out of it in the end. at times, there is a call to war.  but we should understand what we are fighting for?  or if fighting is even the solution?

are statues the toys left out after war games?

how do we remember war?  how do we remember our past?

you can also consider the size and toy-like nature of hobby horse itself. in terms of its size, nearly nine feet tall, it recalls images of equestrian statuary that is often created as a monument to war. perhaps this is a commentary on how we, as a nation, remember our past. anyone can look to their local courthouse and see grand sculptures of mounted horsemen that evoke feelings of pride and romanticism for our nations past. but do we really understand that past and what they were fighting for or even what we are fighting for in our own lives? the toy-like nature of the smith’s hobby horse helps people understand that perhaps we should be questioning this.

the most quotable quote:

smith also explains it in this way, “i am wondering why so many people feel the impulse to re-enact these great moments from history. in some ways i feel it is a return to childhood.” this is an interesting notion. perhaps in the vein of children playing, re-enactors use their own hobby as a way to project their own identity and perhaps the identity of the nation.

our take: dare we assume?  (you know what they say.)

we think maybe smith sees the chance for re-enacting events in her own way as a chance to redefine her own identity and that of our country.  maybe its past time for someone aware of their identity as gay and female to call our historical identity into question — and perhaps more importantly, challenge everyone else to do the same.