Contact Improvisation

My French is rusty, I think the title translates to "Taken by the Body"

It's a nice male duet, though the snap cuts ruin the sense of a continuous dance. They strike a good balance in their improv between big actions and taking their time to discover the truth of the moment and the movement.

More on the Youtube site, en francais.

Sculpture and the Dilemma of Historic Restoration

How do all those people on the forensic shows do it? A fragment of a clue is turned over to some technician who quickly deciphers everything. If only it were so in real life.

The new job is two architectural elements that need to be re-sculpted. They'll be carved in foam and then cast in concrete to look like the original sandstone ornament. OK. So far, so good. It's for a Seattle historic reconstruction. Built in 1900, the top two floors were destroyed in a fire in the early 1940's. The only thing I have to work from is a black and white photograph of the building, taken in the 1930's, from across the street.

The photo has been scanned and "enhanced" in photoshop. This is where those technicians work their magic. But working with an 80 year old photo with poor resolution and all the photo shop magic in the world, I still have only the vaguest idea of what it could be.

It's very difficult to sculpt a vague idea. Bumps and shadows seem to indicate forms, but I've learned that a dark can be a stain as much as it might be a recess and what seems to be bouncing light, indicating a convex form might just be pigeon shit.

Even with the best intentions, see where "Historic Restoration" can go astray? Tell me crystal ball gazers, what do you see?

Sculpture and Genghis Khan in Mongolia

For starters, he would correct the pronunciation of his name. Real Mongolian name of Genghis Khan is Chinggis Khaan. Then he'd probably decapitate you.

But his image is changing, literally. Already his image is on vodka, cigarettes and an energy drink. Now he's becoming a brand of his own theme park, the Chinggis Khaan Statue Complex. The Cenco Toour Bureau, a Mongolian Company has spent $4.1 million dollars on the giant steel statue and surrounding buildings.

The scale of the statue is amazing. 131 foot tall giant on horseback rapped in 250 tons of shiny stainless steel. You can take an elevator and exit between his legs ( We are all his children?) to an observation deck to see the Mongolian steppes.
Top photo from hubpages

2nd photo from Flicker

Article from 8/3/09 New York Times by Dan Levin.

Sculpture and Atsco Oscar manniquin

Every so often you get lucky. On my way home from the studio, a friend called me to tell me about an estate sale. It was closing in 20 minutes. Go home? Check it out?

What decided me was that the estate was that of an artist. I found cool art books and a small Chinese votive figure, Quan Yin on a pig, but that's another post. Pleased at getting out for under $20, $19.50 to be exact, I looked behind the cashier and saw this artist's figure. I had to have it, a total deal at $42.00.

It was made by the ATSCO Company, in Los Angeles, Ca. in the 1930's. It's so beautifully articulated. Brass hinges and ball and socket joints allows all the Bakelite limbs to rotate, supinate, abduct and adduct. The torso can flex and extend. It's graceful in every position.

I was surprised at what this artist's figure is valued at, but even more pleased that it has a new home with another artist. This figure isn't decor, it's a working tool that I will use.

Sculpture and Lineage of 2,500 Years

I began this clay panel as a demonstration at the Hughes Water Garden Water Lily Festival. It's a copy of a terra cotta building fragment (bottom photo) from the Architectural Heritage Center's Architecture in Bloom, Botanical Building Ornament.

Working on this panel, it dawned on me that this abundant floral patterning of acanthus leaf and blossoms is a sculpture genre that goes back at least 2500 years to the Romans, and the Greeks before them.

Copying has a bad reputation these days, but carefully copying the original was like taking a master class in sculpture. Everything in this releif is organized in terms of rhythms and counter rhythms. It is so musical. Doing my best to reproduce it exactly, I learned a lot. The sweetest thing was the realization that I'm a part of such a long tradition of nature art. We really are a part of the living green world.

Sculpture and Scrap Metal Vandalism

Figurative sculpture is an odd beast.

Because it is life-like, even if it's badly done, it is more animate than abstract works. That makes the vandalism of it more macabre. Meth-heads often ruin bronze sculpture and memorial markers to sell to scrap metal dealers. Fine art for 79 cents per pound.

Here is a pair of severed hands that were sold to a scrap metal dealer. Portland police are asking for anyone who might recognize them or the sculpture they came from to contact Brent Bates at bbates@portlandpolice.org if you have any information that might be helpful.

Geology and Rugged Terrain

Who says the federal government is stodgy?

The photo above is circa 1969 and shows a United States Geological Survey (USGS) scientist up on the glacier. I love the caption's scientific double entendre: Well-jointed quartz monzonite exposed on the north side of the peak northwest of Picket Lake on the west side of Ensawkwatch Creek.

To access the USGS archives click here