All nouns (common and proper) name persons, places, things, or ideas. There are differences between them, though.
Common noun: names GENERIC persons, places, things, or ideas (i.e. man, park, planet, religion)
Proper noun: names SPECIFIC persons, places, things or ideas (i.e. Billy, Central Park, Mars, Christianity)
Machines can serve as both a help and a hindrance!
Barren seems like the best work for stark.
"Whose" is a possessive pronoun. It lets us know that the sculptures belong to someone.
its characterization if you got the fill in the blank question like i did