How does Engagement (sculpture) elucidate its Interpretation and reception?
Oppenheim, who often declines to explain his works, kept the meaning of Engagement ambiguous on purpose. According to the San Diego Port, the work reminds spectators that "marriage requires a balance between two people with different interests, tastes and backgrounds" and represents the "dichotomy of marriage, expressing the romantic and the melancholy".Debates over same-sex marriage in Canada were taking place around the time the work was installed in Vancouver.
Vancouver San Diego same-sex marriage in Canada