Sculpture and Dance

Is it surprising that sculptors love movement?
I'll be part of Now Repeat in Steinese  this weekend at Performance Works Northwest 

Now Repeat in Steinese uses one of Stein’s most unstageable works  "White Wines" written in 1913. It has no plot, no characters, no setting – and no meaning other than the experience of her art and how to interpret it. Carolyn and I worked with the line "Build a best container with no speed."to shape our dance.

Under performance artist Drew Pisarra’s guidance, this concept was initially executed in New York in 2010 where it was hailed as an “entertaining collation of pure theater” (nytheater.com) and played for a month to sold-out houses.
This production reinvents the idea by having four West Coast theater artists/choreographers/filmmakers interpret the play anew, thereby revealing a completely new set of artistic sensibilities. Pisarra, a fixture in Portland’s dance-theater landscape in the ’90s, returns from NYC to host this one-of-a-kind evening with his longtime collaborator Katherine Gray.

Alembic is an ongoing series of performances curated by guest artists from the worlds of dance, theater, visual and media arts invited to program and produce an event at Performance Works NorthWest.

WHO:
Drew Pisarra, curator
Katherine Petersen, co-host
The SteinWays, musical collective
Kyle Delamarter and Starr Ahrens, theater artists
TouchMonkey: Carolyn Stuart and Patrick Gracewood, dancers
Austin Newsom, filmmaker
 

WHEN: April 29 and 30. Friday and Saturday. 8pm.
HOW:Tickets $12-$15 (discounts for Boris & Natasha Fan Club)at the door or at hulahub.com
WHERE: Performance Works NorthWest  (www.performanceworksnw.org)
4625 SE 67th Ave., Portland, OR 97206
503.777.1907

Sculpture and Stone

Do you want to be a better sculptor?

Do you want to be a better gardener?

Do you just want to space out for a while?

Work with stone.

 That's right, play with rocks.

Not carving.
Just work with whatever stone you can get your hands on. On vacation at the beach, at the river, the desert? There are rocks everywhere.

There's two ways to approach working with rocks. Working for maximum stability or maximum instability. Both ways teach you important things about weight, mass and composition.



In Japan, they say that the flower arranger composes not just the flower but also himself/herself while working. The finished arrangement also is a way for viewers to compose themselves while viewing.

That is even more true of compositions in stone.

Sculpture and Andersen M Studio

No book is safe these days.


Paper cutting is having a resurgence and old books are fair game. What was flat becomes evocative dimensional shadow puppetry in this film noir-ish video from Andersen M Studio.

Andersen M Studio, a creative studio based in London, is a partnership between brother and sister Martin and Line Andersen.

Sculpture and Lagoa Multiphysics 1.0

Time at my workbench is more precious than time spent at the computer. I like reality.
Younger artists won't need to make that distinction as the computer becomes their workbench.

Instead of working with their hands and real materials, they'll program the object they want to make and then send the digital file to a company like Additive Workshop to be fabricated, milled or printed in 3D.

Lagoa is a customizable particle physics framework that allows artist control of high friction granular frameworks, imcompressable fluids...

Did you understand any of that?
Just watch this video and you'll understand.
(Warning!  Annoying music accompanies video.)


Lagoa Multiphysics 1.0 - Teaser from Thiago Costa on Vimeo.

Sculpture and Tattoos

Unblemished skin is one of the glories of the nude body.

I was looking at my stats page and found that after Paradis Express,

All Things Ruffernarian,

and Art's the Answer,

the fourth referring URL was a site called Tattoo Designs Vault.

This doesn't look good. (Design theft, copyright infringement?)

Especially since I hate tattoos.

I've done thousands of drawings, not one do I want on my body.
When I see an arm covered in tattoos it looks like a fatal bruise.

My best course of action will be: Do nothing. 

I know that any tattoos based on my art will be a blackened mess in 20 years.  A rare case of life lasting longer than "art".

(I do wonder WHAT they were looking at on a sculpture blog? )

What is your take on tattoos? Have you designed or received any?

Sculpture and Drawing and Confidence

All artists need encouragement and reassurance.

As artists, we're going to make art because we must.
We must also work at becoming businessmen and women, an entirely different set of skills in order to market and sustain our art making. It isn't easy.

Sometimes I long for the confidence of childhood.

I just found this drawing of owls made by our little one when she was a young 4 years old. It makes me laugh.

No problems with theme, composition, color or line.
Or marketing.
Bang there it is.

"This is for you, Babu."
"Thank you, Baby."

Like I said, we take our encouragement and reassurance where ever we can find it.

Sculpture and Gothic Ornament

Who knew the Salvation Army's thrift store had real antiques?
Surrounded by cheap and ugly furniture, this hand carved oak gothic cabinet was very out of place.

The wood is oak,  the finish is the original paint, with an interesting chased brass lock. The wood is  solid, no veneer. It's big too, at least 34 inches tall and almost 48 inches across. It's very heavy, and that's without the black and white marble top!

Classic linen-fold pattern

By the time I arrived, a woman had claimed it for her own. Thank God as it saved me from buying it. 
It was a total deal as it was half price day, hers for $100.00! All I had to do was enjoy looking at it. No regrets.