Verbal Description: Charles Ray’s Ninety-Nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall

Charles Ray’s Ninety-Nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall (2021) is made out of aluminum and measures 76 × 79 × 62 in. (193 × 200.6 × 157.5 cm). 

Charles Ray’s sculpture shows a young man (a drunk student) sitting on 3 blocks stacked on top of 3 blocks - all measuring the same size. The stacked blocks are approximately the height of a bench. The sculpture is life size and the entire surface is a silvery white color. The young man leans back. His head tilts to our right. His eyes are closed. His nose tilts up and his full lips are at rest - neither frowning nor smiling. His youth is reflected in his smooth unlined face. His hair is short with a few stray curls visible behind his right ear. 

He wears a buttoned-down shirt open at the neck. The shirt is not tucked into his pants. His left arm hangs down with a closed fist resting on the surface of his seat. His long-sleeved shirt is closed at the wrist. His right-hand rests in his lap. His left leg is crossed over his right and the edge of his straight legged pants rides up revealing the weave of the sock covering his left ankle. He wears flat laced walking shoes and his left shoe extends out. His right leg is bent and his right foot comes to rest near the floor. Upon close examination, one becomes aware that there is a gap of air between the edge of his right pant leg and the mouth of his right shoe. His shoe rests upon a piece of wood that is placed between the sole of the shoe and the gallery floor. The right shoe angles outward.