Explanations and thoughts on the Essential Questions:
Essential question #1: Why - or for whom - did Leonardo make some of these designs for weapons and machines? Leonardo sent a letter to Ludovico Sforza, the ruler of Milan, in 1482, in an attempt to persuade Sforza to become his patron. In the letter, he mentioned that he was writing "in order to acquaint you with my secrets," which included ideas for cannons, armored wagons, and other things meant for times of war. He also offered to design buildings and bridges - all practical things that the ruler of a city might need. But what I find interesting is that last - but not least - he also offered his skills as a sculptor and painter, saying that "in painting, I can do as much as anyone, whoever he may be." So while he starts his "sales pitch" with practical offerings, he makes sure to offer his artistic services as well.
Essential Question #2: Can you name at least two - if not more - of Leonardo da Vinci's most-famous art works? The two you should absolutely know are: Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, pictured below. Other masterpieces by Leonardo include: Virgin of the Rocks, Lady with an Ermine, Vitruvian Man, and Adoration of the Magi, among many others.
Essential Question #3: Note some observations about the James Capper pictures and then discuss what might be two reasons why the tools are presented this way on top of these large blocks? What two purposes do the blocks serve? The artist has created these tools that also serve as sculpture, so the blocks on which they sit also serve two purposes, one of which is that the blocks act as pedestals for the piece as sculpture. As you can see in the pictures below, it's quite common for sculptors to present their art on a pedestal, so in this sense, Capper is simply following a longstanding modern art tradition.
But you may have also noticed the wires coming out of the back of the tools/sculptures, and that some of the pedestals looked chopped and ragged. This is because Capper will plug in the tool to a generator and actually demonstrate the tool's capabilities by cutting, scraping, or grinding into the pedestal. In this way, the pedestal provides its second purpose, which is allowing the artist to reveal the tool's functionality and to show how it can make marks on a surface. When one is drawing, marks are being made on paper, so one could argue that these tools are drawing machines, which brings us back to seeing them in an artistic manner rather than just as abstract power tools.
Essential Question #4: Visually, do these common power tools differ in appearance from Capper's power tools, and if so, how? Would you ever consider these to be sculpture if they were placed on a pedestal in a gallery? This question is more of an opinion question, so there's not any one correct answer. But in our opinion, the common power tools have identifiable safety elements in place, such as the guards around the saw blades, whereas Capper's tools are bare and exposed, with the sharp cutting elements out in the open, ready to inflict damage and potential harm.
As to the 2nd question, whether these common tools could be considered sculpture if placed in a gallery ... that gets a little more complicated ... one could easily say "no," because they're so commonly known in society as tools that one wouldn't confuse them with sculpture, whereas Capper's tools, being one-of-a-kind objects, and a bit more abstract as to their purpose, might pass as sculpture. But on the flip side, one could argue that Jeff Koons took a well-known tool - a wet/dry vac, and put it in a glass case, and called it art. If the Museum of Modern Art will collect it as art, could another artist take a power drill and present it in the same way and call it art? We'll leave that up to you to discuss and decide.
