Cindy Griffis on fri 25 jan 02
This is kewl....how about mirror'ed (is that a word?) eyes? Maybe silver marbles or river stones?
Cindy
Tommy Humphries wrote: The way I have always pictured Medusa, is not as a hideously ugly monster.
Instead I always thought of a great beauty that draws the male to her, then
he gazes into her eyes where he sees his own inner ugliness reflected back.
It is the horror of knowing his own true self that turns him to stone, not
the actual face of Medusa.
I came to this conclusion during a discussion in high school about the myth.
The men that were smitten by Medusa were hard men, and would not have been
fazed by mere ugliness....
Tommy
----- Original Message -----
From: "Stephani Stephenson"
To:
Sent: Friday, January 25, 2002 6:40 PM
Subject: Perusing Medusa : the aesthetic of ugly
> but how ugly is ugly? And how
> ugly is ugly when you are doing it for a client! I doubt if the guy
> would want a true gross out!
> Were these men turned to stone because they saw a completely hideous
> countenance? horror? fear? or was there an element of awe , fascination?
>
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Stephani Stephenson on fri 25 jan 02
Hi Mel/Joyce/ moderator, not sure this post made it through the first
time so am resending it :
I am currently working on a commission to complete a 'Medusa' fountain.
It will feature an arch made of Medusas' intertwining 'serpent hair
do' and two opposing Medusa faces which will spit water into a central
basin. It is for a large , quite unique home. In the good ol state of
Texas, too.
This project has brought up some interesting 'issues', which have run
through my mind as I sit , modeling a face for dear ol' Medusa.
First of all I did look for existing images. Except for Caravaggio's
painting, and the much older traditional 'Gorgon' , I found little that
was satisfying or stimulating, though I haven't really checked out movie
imagery. Most images , in books on art , mythology, etc., show the
snakes well but quite often hide the face. completely . I thought ,
"caricature!" and looked up animated versions of other dames with
attitude, such as wicked queens and witches in Disney and children's
books.... They were much more watered down than I remember them at age
5! Perhaps the closest I can find is the countenance of medieval
gargoyles or the statues of Kali. But that's OK , I'm not aiming to copy
, and know there's a Medusa lurking around inside anyway so I began to
model with the clay.
Then I started thinking about, well how DO you model a face that is
suppose to be so hideous it turns the viewer to stone? Obviously I
wouldn't want to turn my client to stone. Admittedly my sculpting skills
fall far short of being THAT effective but how ugly is ugly? And how
ugly is ugly when you are doing it for a client! I doubt if the guy
would want a true gross out!
Were these men turned to stone because they saw a completely hideous
countenance? horror? fear? or was there an element of awe , fascination?
.
Then one turns to issues and ideals of feminine beauty . Medusa once
had beauty and lost it . (Don't go messin' with mama Hera). What IS
beauty anyway, and what is the loss of beauty? How did SHE feel about
it? Does hideous equal ugly equal scary equal demonic equal possessed
equal horror ? Does it contain a feeling of tremendous loss,
hopelessness, torment, revenge?
All in the bone structure and countenance of a clay face.... well then
there's her snake-do too.
Did Medusa WANT to turn them to stone? Can you hear her , "I mean after
all , these guys keep coming here to my place trying to kill me, and all
I really want is is a nice dinner out on the town and some intelligent
conversation! " Did she want a boy toy or a soul mate or just a little
peace and quite so she could pursue her career and hobbies? Obviously
when my thoughts ramble THIS far it means it is time to STEP AWAY FROM
THE CLAY!!!!!! Stretch my back, go watch the hummingbirds for a minute.
It is kind of fun letting the mind ramble on these questions a bit as
the hands push and pull and dig into the clay .
I was talking to an excellent Minnesota artist Wing Huie (please I hope
I spelled name correctly)
when he and excellent potter Tara Simpson stopped by for a visit last
week. He said, 'O yes the aesthetic of ugly'. I thought that was a great
phrase and summed it up pretty well.
We talked about how a whole 'aesthetic of ugly' has developed and how
movies are probably the best visual reference in our own contemporary
cultural .
The thing is, even with Medusa, there is an urge to keep an element of
beauty, as this is an aesthetic object and it is going to be featured
in a prominent place in a beautiful home. So the artist as 'decorator '
and 'designer' and 'client pleaser' has several 'inner' committee
meetings with the artist as 'searcher of truth.'.....
Well , thoughts do ramble and for now I stare at her , she stares back,
though I am not going to finish the eyeballs/ pupils til the very last
minute. Don't want her to get the upper hand too soon. ~ : ^ @
Geez and you wheelthrowers , all you have to do is gaze at the lovely
centrifugal dance of clay! : ^ > !!!!!
toodalooh!
Stephani Stephenson
Carlsbad, CA
steph@alchemiestudio.com
Penny Hosler on fri 25 jan 02
Stephani,
I believe you were on the right track with Disney.
Think Cruella De Ville. Harsh, beautiful and bonkers.
Penny in WA
Tommy Humphries on fri 25 jan 02
The way I have always pictured Medusa, is not as a hideously ugly monster.
Instead I always thought of a great beauty that draws the male to her, then
he gazes into her eyes where he sees his own inner ugliness reflected back.
It is the horror of knowing his own true self that turns him to stone, not
the actual face of Medusa.
I came to this conclusion during a discussion in high school about the myth.
The men that were smitten by Medusa were hard men, and would not have been
fazed by mere ugliness....
Tommy
----- Original Message -----
From: "Stephani Stephenson"
To:
Sent: Friday, January 25, 2002 6:40 PM
Subject: Perusing Medusa : the aesthetic of ugly
> but how ugly is ugly? And how
> ugly is ugly when you are doing it for a client! I doubt if the guy
> would want a true gross out!
> Were these men turned to stone because they saw a completely hideous
> countenance? horror? fear? or was there an element of awe , fascination?
>
Janet Kaiser on sun 27 jan 02
What an incredibly interesting and challenging commission, Stephanie!
Lucky you!
I don't know if this is any help, but Medusa was the only mortal among
the three Gorgons, who were all daughters of Ceto (a sea monster) and
Phorcys (a sea god, who also fathered Ladon a hundred-headed snake by
Echidna, half maiden, half snake who lived in a cave and ate
passers-by).
Their hair was said to be entwined with serpents (note the duality),
their hands of brass, their bodies covered with impenetrable scales and
their brazen teeth were as long as the tusks of a wild boar. It was only
in LATER Greek legends, that is was said Medusa was originally a very
beautiful maiden... A sort of latter day political correctness? Who
knows? But with that sort of pedigree... Well, I think ugly would have
been a fairly accurate adjective!
With four-inch brass teeth and a bad hair day to beat 'em all... Well,
that is a challenge for any artist. I would personally go for a human
face expressing leering hate and contempt, whilst going blaaaahhhhh and
sticking the tongue out in an attitude of vomitting or disgorgin bile...
This would give the right sort of physical angle and attitude for the
water which will be spewing out of the mouth/s later. (I hope it will be
a good gush and not a mere trickle?).
It will be really tricky if it is just one head with faces on both
sides, because that hunching of the shoulders and projection of the head
forward and down brings it out of the vertical. I know, because I have
just been trying it out...! I hope no one was passing the window in the
last ten minutes and looked in!!... :-) But from your discription, it
would be two heads facing one another, so that should not be an added
problem.
Anyway, a vommitting pose gets around the problem of whether Medusa is
beautiful or not. All strained sinews and bulging eyes and mouth
wide-open, with chin down... The most gorgeous face is going to be
transformed into something one would not care to meet down a dark
allyway...
Janet Kaiser
The Chapel of Art . Capel Celfyddyd
Marine Crescent . Criccieth LL52 0EA . GB-Wales . UK
E-MAIL: postbox@the-coa.org.uk
WEB: http://www.the-coa.org.uk
TEL: (++44) 01766-523570
Home of The International Potters' Path
Carole Rishel on mon 28 jan 02
Serpents are an ancient symbol of wisdom. The idea that they are on the =
head (crown chakra) would symbolize the highest wisdom.
Carole Rishel
kallahcee@msn.com
Smithville, TX =20
=20
----- Original Message -----
From: Janet Kaiser
Sent: Saturday, January 26, 2002 11:17 PM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: Perusing Medusa : the aesthetic of ugly
=20
What an incredibly interesting and challenging commission, Stephanie!
Lucky you!
I don't know if this is any help, but Medusa was the only mortal among
the three Gorgons, who were all daughters of Ceto (a sea monster) and
Phorcys (a sea god, who also fathered Ladon a hundred-headed snake by
Echidna, half maiden, half snake who lived in a cave and ate
passers-by).
Their hair was said to be entwined with serpents (note the duality),
their hands of brass, their bodies covered with impenetrable scales and
their brazen teeth were as long as the tusks of a wild boar. It was only
in LATER Greek legends, that is was said Medusa was originally a very
beautiful maiden... A sort of latter day political correctness? Who
knows? But with that sort of pedigree... Well, I think ugly would have
been a fairly accurate adjective!
With four-inch brass teeth and a bad hair day to beat 'em all... Well,
that is a challenge for any artist. I would personally go for a human
face expressing leering hate and contempt, whilst going blaaaahhhhh and
sticking the tongue out in an attitude of vomitting or disgorgin bile...
This would give the right sort of physical angle and attitude for the
water which will be spewing out of the mouth/s later. (I hope it will be
a good gush and not a mere trickle?).
It will be really tricky if it is just one head with faces on both
sides, because that hunching of the shoulders and projection of the head
forward and down brings it out of the vertical. I know, because I have
just been trying it out...! I hope no one was passing the window in the
last ten minutes and looked in!!... :-) But from your discription, it
would be two heads facing one another, so that should not be an added
problem.
Anyway, a vommitting pose gets around the problem of whether Medusa is
beautiful or not. All strained sinews and bulging eyes and mouth
wide-open, with chin down... The most gorgeous face is going to be
transformed into something one would not care to meet down a dark
allyway...
Janet Kaiser
The Chapel of Art . Capel Celfyddyd
Marine Crescent . Criccieth LL52 0EA . GB-Wales . UK
E-MAIL: postbox@the-coa.org.uk
WEB: http://www.the-coa.org.uk
TEL: (++44) 01766-523570
Home of The International Potters' Path
_________________________________________________________________________=
_____
Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclin=
k.com.
Paul Taylor on mon 28 jan 02
Dear Stephanie
I think a more convincing caricature of Medusa can be made by making her
as beautiful as possible just making her plain ugly some how falls short of
ugliness .
It's some what in line with tommys idea.
--
Regards from Paul Taylor
Fifteen minutes of fame is all we ever need.
http://www.anu.ie/westportpottery
> From: Tommy Humphries
> Reply-To: Ceramic Arts Discussion List
> Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2002 19:38:49 -0600
> To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
> Subject: Re: Perusing Medusa : the aesthetic of ugly
>
> The way I have always pictured Medusa, is not as a hideously ugly monster.
> Instead I always thought of a great beauty that draws the male to her, then
> he gazes into her eyes where he sees his own inner ugliness reflected back.
> It is the horror of knowing his own true self that turns him to stone, not
> the actual face of Medusa.
>
> I came to this conclusion during a discussion in high school about the myth.
> The men that were smitten by Medusa were hard men, and would not have been
> fazed by mere ugliness....
>
>
>> but how ugly is ugly? And how
>> ugly is ugly when you are doing it for a client! I doubt if the guy
>> would want a true gross out!
>> Were these men turned to stone because they saw a completely hideous
>> countenance? horror? fear? or was there an element of awe , fascination?
>>
>
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