Trent Manning Analysis

At first glance of Trent Manning’s piece titled Self propelled we notice a man sitting in a

small dingy boat with the absence of oars or a motor. He uses his same reoccurring color scheme

placing your initial focus on the brighter red color of the sleeve on one of his arms. His arm

draws your attention to the hand where there is no means of movement for this boat but by his

own power. Manning seems to be critiquing the nursery rhyme “row, row, row your boat” from

his perspective rather than just a simple song. The anguished look on his face portrays that there

is nothing except his arms powering the boat. The base itself is a flat and a grayish shade of blue

reflecting the water the boat is on as still and gentle as we are suppose to row our

The boat itself seems to be made up of mix-matched pieces of lumber with an

ornate piece on the front, not a dreamy perfect boat that we’d imagine. The tip of the boat

however is from an old violin a detailed focal point of the sculpture because it is the front of the

boat guiding its direction. A musical piece as well connecting it to the nursery rhyme it is

critiquing. He takes our perceptions of childhood objects and finds their underlying truth. Life

isn’t but a dream it is an exhausting journey that requires us to push ourselves and move forward.

We cannot rely on others or “a motor”, we are the driving force of our boat and the reality is life

isn’t but a dream. Using the found objects creates history to this piece difficult to attain by other

media. The man rowing the boat has a back story, in the same way each object that he is made

from comes from a previous use.

King of the mountain was the very first Trent Manning piece I had ever seen and it

caught my interest at the first glance. It was during an exhibit at Ridge Arts in Winter Haven,

Florida were I was working as a volunteer. When you begin to view the piece you are forced