Chapter 13: Sculpture

Chapter 13: This chapter discusses the process of making sculptures and their many varieties. The two basic processes are, "subtractive" and "additive". (Although, some sculptures are created using elements of both.) In simplistic terms, The subtractive process involves subtracting or removing material from the original medium "until it achieves its finished form". (Obviously, if you are working with wood or marble or jade, this requires precise planning. Removing too much could be "fatal", from an artistic point of view!) The additive process, is just the reverse. An artist, adds or builds up material until they have arrived at the final form they desire. The major categories of sculpture include: Carving (subtractive); Modeling, construction/assemblage, and installations (additive); Casting, earthworks, and performance art (often using elements of both). Sculpture can be small and intimate. For instance, Patrocinio Barela's carving, "Nativity" in Juniper wood.
(With figures from 11-33 inches tall.) Or, it can be mammoth and imposing. For example, the "Three Goddesses" from the Parthenon in Athens or the whale tails from the Jim Sardonis sculpture, "Reverance". They can be designed to be seen from the front. Like the east "frieze or sculptural band" from the Parthenon known as the "Maidens and Stewards". (My favorite example of "low or bas-relief".)  An amazing example of "high or haut-relief", is the huge jade carving of
"Yu the Great Taming the Waters", mentioned in our text. Imagine damaging or destroying a precious block of jade over seven feet in height by error- the Chinese emperor would have your head! Which is probably one reason why, it took a "total of 150,000 working days" to complete. Some sculpture is "meant to be seen from all sides". One example, of an "in-the-round" sculpture that impressed me was Praxiteles work, "Hermes and Dionysos". Why? Because of the naturalness of its "contrapposto or counter-balanced pose" and its three-dimensionality. My absolute favorite example of "modeling", is the "terra-cotta army". Found buried in the tomb of the Chinese Emperor Shih Huang Ti. It features over six thousand life-sized ceramic figures of soldiers, scholars, and other retainers. Each figure is made unique by modifying its facial expressions, painting, et cetera.
(I have read that the previous practice, involved burying a representative sample of living members of the emperor's retinue. Thank you Emperor Shih!) I learned a lot from the section on "casting", regarding the "lost-wax or cire-perdue method". The "Head of an Oba", from the Benin culture of Nigeria, was an amazing example. Personally, I could never characterize that work as "primitive art". I find it every bit expressive as Rodin's wonderful bronze of  "The Burghers of Calais"- which was welded together. My favorite "assemblage" is Robert Gober's, "Untitled". I cannot look at that piece without smiling. The clever way the "young girl's" two left feet suggest our "awkwardness" as teenagers. The "mom dressed me", socks and sandals. The "light dusting of actual human hair"; because "dad won't let me use his razor to shave my legs like the big girls". I know I may be reading some things into his sculpture but I feel this artist wants me to do just that! Kara Walker's
"installation", "Insurrection!(Our Tools Were Rudimentary, Yet We Pressed On)", is beautifully executed but a little too "dark"  for my taste. (I mean, "...disemboweling a plantation owner with a soup ladle..." in what looks like a Disney cartoon setting. I get it...that does not have to mean I like it. Maybe, that's her point?) I liked Rubin's installation, "Pleasure Point", much more. It's gravity defying collection of kayaks, canoes, jet skis, rowboats, and surfboards look as if a tsunami had just "plopped" them down at the side of the museum building. The "color and form" of this artwork is just perfect for the "canvas" of blue sky and ocean in the background. Smithson's "Spiral Jetty and, its inspiration, the Hopewell culture's "Great Serpent Mound", are awe inspiring examples of "earthworks". Both in terms of complementing their surroundings and their monumental size. In the section on "performance art, I learned about an earlier version of the "Flash Mob". In the 1950's, Alan Kaprow was inspired by Jackson Pollock to invent what he called "Happenings". "Defined as
assemblages of events performed or perceived in more than one time and place". (So, the "flash mob" is hardly original.) I loved the concept behind "Imponderabilia". It had Uwe Laysiepen and Marina Abramovic as male and female "living doors". However, in a special twist on "subtractive" sculpture,they "peeled off" their clothes and were nude. For 90 minutes, before the cops arrived, they
stood staring at each other as a camera recorded which "door" people chose to squeeze through! I have to give them "major props" for being able to keep it together while people were rubbing up against them. To put it mildly, that "creeps" me out. Also, even if the lady were my girlfriend, I could not personally stare at her like that for more than five seconds, in public, before laughing hysterically and then setting a new landspeed record getting out of there. This chapter was great fun.