A Visual Analysis of Robert Rauschenberg’s “Coca Cola Plan” (1958)
-by Tracy L. Crites
The art piece by Robert Rauschenberg titled “Coca Cola Plan”(1958) is a medium to small scale assemblage situated vertically on the wall. The main body of the structure is a narrow rectangular frame made of wood and divided into 3 sections. The top section is covered over by paper that has a pencil drawn diagram and hand written words. The middle section is open in the back completely through to the wall. It contains 3 vintage green glass Coca Cola bottles. Thick oil paint is dripping down the front of one bottle and one other has a smudge of paint on it. The remaining center bottle is clean. The bottom section is closed of from behind creating a dark niche. Inside this section is a wooden newel or decorative staircase post cap. The newel is round on a stepped pyramid base. The round portion is carved with horizontal concentric lines and a large chiseled indentation into the wood. Two silver cast metal wings are attached one on each side of the wooden frame extending out from the middle section.
The placement of the various found objects in the assemblage creates balance and order. Emphasis is given to the center section where the strongest use of color captures your eye. The colors are primary in nature with splashes of bold red, yellow, and blue green oil paint. There are soft pale hues given by the green glass bottles, which also add to the primary color scheme. This section is surrounded by the warm neutral tones of the honey colored wood and aged paper. Within the many various objects of the assemblage there is a strong play of contrasting textures. For instance the rough weathered and chiseled wooden newel set off the smooth surface of the glass bottles and the shiny metal wings oppose the dull paper and wood exteriors. The middle and bottom sections of this piece draw attention to the art element of space. Positive space is the space defined by the objects already described, like the Coke bottles and the newel. The negative space is the area around, above, and in between the objects. This space that is created by the placement of the objects is equally interesting to view. Lastly, while this artwork generally feels grounded, the metal wing attachments do give some sense of movement as like a hovering humming bird.
I think Rauschenberg likes to tell a story in his artwork. “Coca Cola Plan” makes me think of flight or a journey or maybe even an escape. The wings are the most obvious reference to this theme. There is also the newel. The newel, already sphere shaped reminds me of a globe or model of Earth. The large chiseled gouge in the wood’s surface, whether or not Rauschenberg intentionally carved into the wood or not, looks like the Earth’s continents. Then the concentric grooves in the wood appear like latitude lines typically found on a globe of the world. The newel is then placed in the bottom section which is the one closed off from the back. This darkened niche makes a great setting for the globe-like newel and gives the appearance of it floating in outer space. Also adding to the theme is the wording on the paper diagram in the top section. In large capitol letters is the word PLAN. This collaged piece of paper in the assemblage may have been an actual concept sketch that Rauschenberg did for this piece. I think he decided to incorporate this sketch as a play on words and his nod to a flight plan that would accompany any sort of air travel. So what about the Coke bottles then? Well, it is 1958, and the Pop Art movement has emerged on the scene. Rauschenberg like many of his fellow artists of the time are aware of the heightened sense of advertisement, mass communication, and consumerism that is taken place in the pop culture. Coca Cola had become an iconic and highly recognizable image of the mid-50’s as it still is today. Artists, and especially Rauschenberg, were using these everyday objects as part of their art to identify with the real world. I think the Coca Cola bottles are not only representative of the Pop Art movement but is also Rauschenberg’s part of the art piece that finishes his story by grounding the viewer and bringing them back to Earth and back to reality.
Robert Rauschenberg’s “Coca Cola Plan” makes me want to take a trip with him. This piece is fun and crafted to feel like a sort of mini spaceship that allows a mental journey away through space and time to some child like place or imaginative dream of orbiting the Earth. I feel this art piece is about exploration and adventure. It gives me a feeling of becoming light as a feather and of being lifted from the Earth’s often difficult moments in life to the freeing sense of flight and ability to escape even if only temporarily. The Coca Cola bottles included in the piece is Rauschenberg’s reminder that looming out on the horizon is the reality of the real world that is waiting and unavoidable.
I have always been attracted and drawn to this very expressive assemblage by
Robert Rauschenberg. Prior to this viewing using Edmund Feldman’s technique for art criticism I do not think I was fully aware of why I love this art piece.
Methodically going through the 4 stages of Feldman’s process has given me a new means by which to examine art in a more careful and thoughtful manner. As an artist I think I had a pretty good grasp on viewing art without any prior knowledge of Edmund Feldman’s method. I did find using this process helpful in being able to explain the “whys” in art. I am pleased to say that even after this exercise I still love Rauschenberg’s “Coca Cola Plan” and I am now prepared to discuss this art piece with my students or anyone on a higher level then I could before.
