Deborah Thuman on fri 17 oct 08
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/17/arts/design/17cald.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
There's an article in this morning's New York Times about an
exhibition of Alexander Caldwel's work. His father was a sculptor who
struggled with money problems. Alexander wanted to bypass the art
struggle and instead studied engineering. Alas, the artist in
Alexander won out over the engineer - and we're all the more enriched.
His work is a combination of play and engineering. There's a film
brief attached to the article that shows the play side of the engineer.
Artists show a glimpse of life as seen through the eyes of the artist.
Rothko showed us what mental illness looks like and feels like.
Magritte showed us not surrealism but realism. Caldwel shows us what
play is all about. Me - I show what happens when one thinks too much.
Deb Thuman
http://debthumansblog.blogspot.com/
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5888059
Lee Love on fri 17 oct 08
On Fri, Oct 17, 2008 at 7:12 AM, Deborah Thuman wrote:
> http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/17/arts/design/17cald.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
> His work is a combination of play and engineering.
He is one of my favorite American artists. I have a wonderful picture
book about him Jean gave me as a birthday gift. It is Calder in his
home and studio.
He knew the difference between an engineer and an artist. See quote
below. The problem with attributing his genius to engineering is that
it gives us a false notion that creativity can be reducted to
control/mastery/problem solving. Art has much more in common with
pure research, where discovery can be pursued for discovery's sake.
Isamu Noguchi ran Calder's phonograph when he performed his Circus in
Paris. Both these men were geniuses. Noguchi is the American
person working in clay who had the biggest impact on ceramicists in
Japan. But his clay work is hardly known here.
"To an engineer, good enough means perfect. With an artist, there's no
such thing as perfect." --Alexander Calder
--
--
Lee Love in Minneapolis
http://heartclay.blogspot.com/
http://mashikopots.blogspot.com/
http://claycraft.blogspot.com/
"Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground." --Rumi
| |
|
