“score” #15 artist statement

11/15/2017

As I work on a piece I start tinkering with what the artist statement should be. Many times both the piece and the artist statement take on unexpected directions and meanings. Below is my latest rendition. 

“score”  

artist statement  

From the beginning of time music has been used as a powerful way to influence human emotion. Modern scientists report that music has the ability to change brainwaves that control our emotional energy.  It is presently used not only as an artistic expression, but also in physical and emotional therapy.

“score” was inspired by a slow shutter release photograph of my cousin, Concert Master Andrew Irvin, that captures multiple images as he plays his violin.  Applying this concept of multiple images with the raw materials recycled wire, steel, and white concrete  “score”  embraces both the primal impact, music has on our emotions  and the contemporary elements of music. ”score” not only expresses the energy of playing the violin but also the raw energy expressed through music. The application is raw, emotional and visceral

“ Score” #13 armature/tails

11/14/2017

The figure is wearing a tux with tails. 

View from the backside of the piece- I added the  back of the pants leg and jacket tail on the left side of the figure.   

full body view

Both jacket tails welded in. 

“Score” post #10 right arm

I have attached the right upper and forearm, hopefully in the right place. I am welding the armature for the concrete part of the sculpture. Attached to this armature will be the metal lath that the concrete rest on and the additional wire that will extend outside of the Concrete showing the energy of the music created by the violinist. I see the violinist as a pedestal for the sculpture. A very specific pedestal. 

Right arm and torso

front view 

View or right side

View from back  

Left side  

the bayling wire head head is a stand in. It was laying in my studio. 

“Score” post #9 repositioning the left forearm....

....to hold the muIcal instrument. 

I need to repositioning the left forearm to hold the violin. I have a bailing wire face attached to you he neck of the armature to help me visualize where the head would be. 

front view

left side of front

left side 

backside

figures backright side 

Front right side of figure

I am excited that the piece still balances on it’s own, however it is starting to want to lean forward. In order to keep it balanced I will add the right arm next. 

Why are some people ready, why do some people know the moment?

People ask me all the time where  do I get my ideas. And I too am fascinated by where creativity comes from. I do not believe it can be taught and for most part it is not easy to describe as creativity, it is one of the great mysteries of the brain. However the Eudora Welty quote in Glasstire this morning beautifully states how I often find inspiration, or how inspiration often finds me.

 “The title That Day underscores the viewer’s sense of being there beside the photographer and the way in which the captured moment remains ever fresh in the image, some of which were made as early as 1979. That was the year when Dallas-based Wilson began assisting Richard Avedon with his own six-year photography project, In The American West. Describing Avedon’s portraiture process in her 2004 book, Avedon At Work In The American West, Wilson noted that he would wait for what Eudora Welty called “a story teller’s truth… the moment in which people reveal themselves. You have to be ready, in yourself; you have to know the moment when you see it.” “

                                                         - gene Fowler 

-http://glasstire.com/author/gene-fowler/

I guess the question should be why are some people

ready, why do some people know the moment?

a moment caught by a "gust"

“score” post #8 winging it.

11/09/2017

I decided to weld the arm pieces onto the torso. I started with the left arm and the palm of the hand. I am totally winging this. Since the piece is in motion I want the arm position to reflect movement. The left shoulder dips and the elbow digs into his side. The left forearm has to be free so the fingers can to move up and down the violin. The violin will be held in place between his chin and his shoulder/chest. 

Next I decide to trace my hand to determine how long the finger pieces of steel should be. Then I draw in the bones and measure how long each finger bone is between the joints. My hand is smaller than the figures would be but by the time I add the lath and cement it should be the right size. 

My hand pattern with bone measurements.  

The hand pattern  with two pieces of the palm of the hand bones cut.  

Detail of the left arm and the palm of his hand.  

The bones in the palm of the hand.  

Now I need to see if I am anywhere close on the angle of the forearm and back of hand. I will do this by holding up a violin to the figure.  

No, I missed it. Tomorrow I will cut the forearm off and reattach it with the wrist right under the violin. Then I will look at the angle of the hand. That might also need to be altered. Totally winging it.   

New piece post #7 “score”

I am ready build the armature for the head. I find this terrifying for some reason. I have this wire fac I made last spring. I have attached it to the neck in order to experiment with the size/and shape  of the head. 

“Gust” artist statement tweaking

I continue to tweak new versions of possible artist statements for “gust”, looking for the perfect words.  

How does this sound?  

“Gust”

Woven in felt, every hat tells a story, shaped with memories, recording beliefs, and veiling sorrow, some eloquent and some twisted. Cradled in our imagination, they blow in strange, wonderful ways, spinning from past generations that are inhabited by our respect to balancing our present responsibilities and fears. In generations past, in fable and in legend, hats sheltered spirits, represented people and occupations, and defended against the elements.

“gust” In my kitchen after applying the patina.  Living with this hat for a few days making sure I am finished with the patina in it.