Undeniably, it is not salient. It does not possess the enticing details of pieta nor the exciting fervor of The Kiss. Thousands fail to notice the figure they pass by every day because of its failure to capture their attention. However, it possesses an inspiring simplicity that is absent in many. Small, dark green leaves surround the figure and cover the ground entirely like a blanket. The leaves are so compressed it’s as if, out of their eternally deep love, they cannot wait for another moment to reach the figure and worship it with truth and spirit. In the background, a stonewall building towers over the figure, passionately fighting to camouflage the simplistic beauty of the overlooked character.

The figure was sculpted by Ernest Shaw in 194. As its name Two Columns implies, it consists of two steel columns. They are the shape of rectangular prisms. The columns are about two meters tall but occupy very little ground, thoughtful of the crowded leaves. Unlike many upright columns supporting a structure, both are broken; the left one at about a third of its height from the ground, and the right one at a fifth. The top pieces of both columns have a slight tilt to the right, like a boy leaning in for a taste of heaven on the lips of a girl who hesitantly leans back yet wants him to come closer. It possesses the warmth of a dead body and the softness of a lightly abrasive sandpaper. Rusted areas on the figure are a testament to its longevity. Granted, it has the fortitude of the old man on the sea. It is broken and ready to collapse, yet it stands firm, unyieldingly denying its weakness, fiercely refusing to give up and stubbornly delaying its fall till the end of times.

Although shrouded in simplicity and unnoticed by plenty, the figure is one that could be a fundamental source of motivation. Through its perplexing nature of being broken yet firm, it communicates an inspiring message of tenacity.

Jorgo Tesfa