so this is one of two gesture sculptures...the following is a drawing of how I want the two to interact...we'll see how that works out.
some things I was thinking about while making this sculpture:
relationships
a square peg in a round hole
letters to and from elly
intimacy (ok, sex but as concept I swear)
personal histories
the figure
stuff people walk on
everyday use
I don't know...stuff.
and my text is all linked out...I don't even know where they'll lead you! good luck with that.
5 comments:
nice.
there is no real effective way to begin this sort of a crit but i have to say that my initial repsonse is in awe of the movement you were able to capture with this one. honestly, i feel like in some of your other smaller pieces there have been some problems with flow and the movement of the thing in space (i am mostly thinking of the paper plane piece) but this one does it and does it well. i love the feeling that it could be a monster's mouth or a cave.....you have the organic/nature vibe but at the same time it is going to bite your hand off.
it looks solid in the craft department which is always a good thing and i am all for those colors-the little surprises on the inside look amazing and provide a broad base for references.
is this piece hanging or sitting? is there any sewing in it or is it all held together by glue? i might be interested to see some bits of sewing.....jsut a thought. and what are the dimensions-actually, just give me a reference-i don't do math.
all in all, you are my hero and i hope you are feeling better soon.
thanks pumpkin. umm 4 feet by 3 feet close to the size of the plane piece... which I agree has always been a bit awkward, but I'm never touching that thing again. and it sits.
I thought I’d be critiquing the letters from mom triptych? I LOVE that by the way. After spending a week with my mother, it had a fresh sting to me when I looked at it.
Anyway, this little bugger is very appealing to me… partially because you photographed him with such Dutch drama, but also because it’s just simply inherently interesting.
I didn't realize what size it was until just reading the above comment, so I guess I had assumed it was small, i.e. under a foot in height.
I’m assuming I’m looking at crumpled linoleum, or some kind of hideous floor substrate? No matter what the substance, it screams of old home, and I think that’s very loaded, compelling, and effective. Actually, it could also reference institutional floors, schools, govt buildings, hospitals… the people and the stories that have “walked” on this substance, these halls and floors… something about the sad, dated colors, the marbleized foam patterning, the honeycomb…. Redemption of crappy materials is something you’ve been very good at and I think is even more sophisticated here.
It’s wonderful how it changes gestures as you move around it… at first I thought it was multiple pieces, then I realized what was going on. I think that is a very rewarding thing for the viewer… it slows down the read, it gives us more to think about because from one angle you might think you know the emotion being expressed but from another angle the gesture/emotion changes… even though the character hasn’t changed, just our perspective on him has changed. Read between the lines of that one, eh?
But really, I get all the things you listed that you’re thinking about. They’re in it. And I can imagine that if there are two of these figures, awkward, stumbling, gesturing toward each other in vague ways, that it would be quite a powerful piece. Keep going! Maybe even animate them? I don’t know, that seems like a Murray thing to do.
One hesitation I have-- you lit and photographed it so well that I wonder how it actually holds up in person. Can you light it in a gallery or studio so that it has the same sense of drama? I fear that some of the gestures and emotions are coming out of the camera point of view and lighting, and may not come out as easily in-person... this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it just becomes a question of whether the piece(s) should exist as sculpture that you experience, or photographs that you can control... or both.
I can see where your coming from with the photographs. my photographer shot it in natural light and didn't touch anything up... due note the backgrounds you can see the folding of the black sheet and what not.
You make a great point in regards to some things I should think about when having my work shot. Because now if you saw this piece in person just in my studio with out the guides of my photographers eye, it would still be a cool piece but for you the experience has changed.
Thanks for your thoughts.
i had a dream last night where you told me that you fit into your piece-you built it around yourself.....just a thought.......
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