Sculpture and Dance

After two weeks of non stop work, I'm ready for someone else to perform.

This playful video belies the two years it took to make. Stunt bicyclist Danny MacAskill's movie, Imaginate, has breathtaking moves, a great set, serious physical skills, and a sense of humor.



Behind the scenes footage here.

Siting Sculpture in the Garden #2

Sponsored by the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon, Siting Sculpture in the Garden happened Saturday.
 
 The stone Buddha at the entrance to the garden was used to demonstrate a permanent sculpture installation. We deconstructed it to show how it benefits from the saw blade halo which pops it from the cypress and shows strong shadows. Then he was crowned with a wreath of grass, lavender and alstromeria blossoms to show an ephemeral sculpture can also create meaning in the garden.

 I was worried that my material wasn't enough to keep folks attention for a two hour workshop.
Saturday showed that it could easily fill a daylong workshop, but my voice gave out after two hours.

Soon, I'll be posting my research here on Shadows on Stone, but right now I'm going to rest.

Siting Sculpture In The Garden.

This Saturday, June 22, I'll be giving a workshop for the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon (HPSO).

 It's called Siting Sculpture in the Garden.

 

Discover the impact that sculpture has in a garden when effectively placed.

This is a hands-on workshop, working with art and this garden. 

Experience how art changes a garden space and how the garden changes your experience of art.

Without careful siting, this lovely Korean stone carving looks like she's running away from home.

 Given a context, the sculpture becomes both surprise and anchor for this section of the garden.

The design problem of needing a hose break became the solution. Beginning with a masonry block base, a simple wooden structure becomes her home. Tough carex hides the base and withstands the coming and goings of the hose.

See you this Saturday?

Sculpture and Animation

Nicolas Deveaux's animated short from Cube Creative.
It's digital machinations, but watch how he creates a sense of space, volume, and movement.
Lots of odd humor.....

Sculpture and Architectural Ornament

When I wrote my manifesto, I said if I couldn't restore buildings I'd create architectural fragments.
This is NOT the kind of fragment I meant!

Five pairs, ten tiles, and everyone of them has cracked or broken completely apart. 

I got help from a ceramicist friend and am treating the clay differently as I begin again.

But damn it, I'm determined to save what I can from all the previous work...

so that it looks more like this....

Here's how I did it.

A 5 minute epoxy to reassemble the shards

I mixed up a warm white putty using secret ingredients. (a white crayon and beeswax)

This wax mixture is used to fill the seam and replace any missing chips.

I started with a metal tool but soon switched to a wooden tool 

so as not to leave any metal marks on the white glaze. 

 Here's a view of the backside. 

I used another secret ingredient, it's old nylon trampoline mesh, to reinforce the seams.

Here they are after repair, certainly not perfect, but better than throwing them in the trash! 

They'll probably be mounted on the studio building.

Now I'm praying for pair number 6 to come through the firings unbroken.

Sculpture and Politics

Never underestimate the power of art.

A small stature from a small temple on a small island is making waves between Japan and Korea.
The bronze statue, originally made in Korea, has been in a temple on Tsushima, Japan for centuries. Last year, thieves stole it and tried to sell the sculpture for over $1 million. Five Korean men are being held for the theft.

Given that the statue is of a Buddhist deity of compassion, it's ironic that relations between Japan and Korea are contentious. Korea says that the sculpture was stolen by Japanese pirates. The Japanese abbot says that the statue was sold or given to the temple centuries ago.

A Korean court issued a temporary order preventing the statue from returning to Tsushima until both  Korean and Japanese temples could present evidence of rightful ownership. Keep in mind that it has been in the Japanese temple for centuries.

This makes the provenance issues at the Metropolitan Museum seem simple. Read the article here

photo by Ko Sasaki, from the New York Times

Here's where the new technologies of scanning and milling would help art and politics. Make an exact duplicate of the sculpture, a child of it, if you will, and have the two temples share the art.

Sculpture and Dance

It seems a good match to pair Illan Riviere with the Birds of Paradise, seen in the previous post.
Like those exotic birds, Illan radically changes shape with his mash up of street and belly dance.

The tightly cropped frame lets us focus on close up details, like his breathing...
What is he doing with his diaphragm to quiver like that?  I didn't know that was possible.



Illan has incredible body integration, everything is alive and available.
Does this video give you any new ideas for figurative sculpture?

Sculpture and The Birds of Paradise

Who has any sense of a lion at the zoo?

That's true of these birds of paradise too.
You may have seen a photo, but until you've seen them move and radically change their shape, you have no idea of their beauty.



What would it be like if humans could change their shape as radically as these birds?