Bob Trotman’s Business as Usual

Business as Usual is an installation of ten carved and painted wooden sculptures by North Carolina sculptor Bob Trotman.

The sculptures, which represent men and women in corporate business attire, are divided into three subsections. The first, Committee, features larger-than-life portrait busts of three men and two women. Each face has some part, eyes, mouth, or both, carved on wooden blocks which may be removed, reversed, and reinserted (by a curator) to reveal another expression. The second subsection, Chorus, is comprised of four larger-than-life partial figures which rest directly on the floor from their armpits up with arms raised and heads back as if they were in distress. The third subsection is entitled Cover Up. It is a single sculpture five feet in height of four figures under a carved wooden shroud with only their legs and feet showing, but their upper bodies discernable beneath the cloth.

The works are dramatically lit and presented as a tableau in one of the museum’s galleries. They will no doubt elicit widely varying interpretations from viewers.