Still Life with Photograph, Book, and Plastic Plum

In this collage Mr. Ungar pays homage to William Carlos Williams and his poetic ideals. Williams believed that the poet should convey meaning through objects, scenes, and sensory details, not through commentary; as summed up in his phrase, “No ideas but in things,” from his work Paterson. Expressed differently William Carlos Williams believed in turning the ordinary into the poetic. Ironically, Mr. Ungar turns the tables, so to speak, and uses an “ordinary” anthology of Williams’s poems as the back drop of his art. The book is opened to “This is Just to Say” about the poet eating plums in the fridge, adorned with an ordinary plastic plum. On the facing page the verses to “Poem” are covered with a family photograph of Mr. Ungar, his siblings, and great-aunt and -uncle. The photograph, exudes an artistic, poetic quality. The view cannot help but notice the angles formed accidentally by the lamp and Uncle Ernest’s posture, not to mention, humorously, how high up his pants are. In addition, like in many artworks the viewer is left to wonder, in this case, “Who took the picture?” Here Mr. Ungar is saying, even an innocuous family photograph can be poetically artistic; and to further enhance this theme he secures it with simple stickers of masterpieces. Lastly, Mr. Ungar has a little fun, by pairing his Uncle Ernest with William Carlos Williams who have a slight but recognizable resemblance.