Charles Simonds (American, born 1945) Number II (Ritual Furnace), 1978 Clay with wood base, 71 x 30 x 30" Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Armand J. Castellani, 1996

Although Charles Simonds made this work for a museum, he originally created tiny structures like this in the streets of New York. As he found a crack in a building or a wall and began to work with tweezers and tiny clay bricks, people would gather around and sometimes even children were allowed to help.

Because this sculpture was made for a museum, it is larger and more complicated than the outdoor works. Does it look like a building that would be made today? Why or why not? It is called Ritual Furnace. A furnace is where things are burned. A ritual is like a ceremony, and it is often performed at various times through the years. Can you think of any rituals we perform in our lives today?

How would a person get into this building? There is a path leading up to the wall towards a flight of stairs. At the back of the building another flight of stairs comes out on the roof. It is up to us to use our imagination to try and figure out how the building looks inside. Do you think it would be one large open space? Would it have floors? Rooms? Why might there be openings at the top of each tower? The construction on the roof is a circular wall inside a hexagonal wall. Inside the circle is black pigment that makes it look as if something were burned, perhaps for a ritual. What might that have been?

Who used this ritual furnace? Simonds has invented a whole race that he calls the Little People. He made up a history, a set of beliefs, and ways of life for them. We never see the Little People, only the architecture they leave behind. Simonds wants us to think about our society today: what we create, what we believe, what we destroy, and what we will leave behind for future generations.