• What human and architectural elements can you identify?
• Describe all of the found objects the artist used on this sculpture.
• What do the headless ball player, armless trapeze artist, and sinking ship have in common?

About the artwork
Westermann’s first life-sized figurative sculpture Memorial combines the artist’s reflections on human experience, mythology, and existentialism. It features a cabinetlike construction with fortresslike crenellations in addition to red and blue arms, a nose, mouth, and eye. The large, bloodshot eye casts an unyielding stare, recalling that of the blinded, one-eyed Cyclops Polyphemus from Homer’s The Odyssey. The door opens to reveal a decorative assortment of found objects, from bottle caps to metal toys. While Westermann denied that this sculpture was a self-portrait, his initials (HCW) are constructed out of bottle caps on the door’s interior and his five-point star tattoo is carved into the back of the sculpture’s red hand. 

Westermann included symbolic elements in this sculpture to represent his existential belief in the futility of individuals to control their own lives. At the top, a finger precariously balances a globe as if to symbolize “the fickle finger of fate” while a trapped figure tries to escape from the mouth’s glass enclosure. Inside the “cabinet” a headless ball player, armless trapeze artist, and sinking ship echo this sense of utter helplessness. Together, such imagery reflects Westermann’s view of a world outside human control. (See Thematic link: War)

Green Planet (Green Planet π), 1967

Looking questions

• Describe the setting.
• What appears to be happening in this scene?
• Name two eras that seem to be represented in this work.

About the artwork
Inspired by popular 1950s science-fiction films, novels, and comics, Westermann created a series of six lithographs in 1967. During an era of Cold War politics, contemporary science fiction often represented the threat of nuclear disaster through a depiction of superior alien races. The 1952 film Red Planet Mars was one of Westermann’s favorite films. It features a scientist’s communication with Martians through the calibration of a radio frequency using the numerical equivalent of π (3.14). Once the Martians’ message is deciphered, the scientists realize that it is Christ’s “Sermon on the Mount”—calling for peaceful solutions over aggression. In the 1950 film Rocketship X-M, a rocket bearing an “X” insignia drifts off course during a mission to the moon. It lands on Mars, and there its scientists are attacked by victims of nuclear war that have taken the form of scary mutants with pincers. Both films feature strong, symbolic messages that advocate an end to nuclear warfare. (See Thematic link: Technology & Science Fiction) 

Green Planet refers to both films through its inclusion of the mutant with pincers, the space-age setting, and the “X” and “π” symbols. However, Westermann also alludes to the classic 1925 silent film The Lost World, which centers on a scientist who discovers extant dinosaurs in the Amazon rainforest. After one of the dinosaurs is brought back to civilization, it wreaks havoc. With its references to all three films, and his fusion of the realm of outer space with prehistoric times, Westermann seems to make an analogy between the heinous reality of impending nuclear war and global extinction. 

Discussion questions

• Compare the existential imagery the artist used to convey the vulnerability of humankind to events outside its control in Memorial and Green Planet. 
• How does Westermann comment on the effects of war in both artworks?
• Discuss how Westermann depicts planets in both artworks and what his overall message about them appears to be.

Interdisciplinary activities
Grade level: Younger students (6-8)
Objective: Compare and contrast thematic connections between literary and visual works of art.
Memorial includes several references to the story of the ancient Greek hero Odysseus. Have students read the tale about Polyphemus the Cyclops in Homer’s The Odyssey. Ask students how the story of Odysseus and the Cyclops reminds them of this sculpture’s head. What do Odysseus and his men have in common with the man inside the sculpture’s mouth? How is the way they escaped from the Cyclops’ cave similar to Westermann’s inclusion of the person hanging from the trapeze bar? Next, have students choose another excerpt from The Odyssey to read. Then, have students redesign Memorial to include references of their own choice to Homer’s vignette. 

Grade level: Older students (9-12)
Objective: Research the history, use, and symbolism of a mathematical term.
In Green Planet, Westermann includes the symbol π. Have students research π’s meaning, its history, and its use. Discuss why Westermann might have included it in this print and why they think it follows the symbol “X” and the words “Green Planet.” Variation for Younger students (6-8): Use π (3.14159) to calculate the circumference of circles in their classroom, home or community (clocks, mirrors, car wheels, etc.) (Hint: Circumference = diameter x “π”) 

Grade level: Younger students (6-8)
Objective: Practice fiction writing and design a three-dimensional work of art. 
Have students describe the expression of the face in Memorial. Then, have students imagine that it is reacting to the event depicted in Green Planet. Have students use stream-of-consciousness technique to write the words that Memorial would utter in response to the scene portrayed in the lithograph. Next, have students brainstorm present-day fears in society. How might they represent or symbolize the fear and its effects? Finally, have students design and create a sculptural memorial to a present-day fear. Variation for older students (9-12): Westermann’s Green Planet was inspired by science fiction films and novels from the 1950s that focused on the possibilities of space travel, the consequences of nuclear warfare, the rapid development of technology, and the unknown. Have students watch a contemporary sci-fi movie or read a sci-fi novel and then write an expository essay or film or book review that discusses what fears seem to be implicitly or explicitly expressed in the movie or novel.