torso w/ elements of technology

[rickb]

http://www.richardbecker.com/untitled_torso%20web%20gallery/images/3%20torso_lft_bw_108_0869_r1.jpg

Here is a new work -- about ready to mold.
If you like to see it in the round, more pics:
http://www.richardbecker.com/untitled_torso%20web%20gallery/index.htm

-- rick

[Stephen Casey]

Powerful and interesting. Especially the angle of the raised arms in relation to eachother. It leaves open more possibilities of what the story is.

I found the abundance of tissue on the pecks a bit distracting as there wasn't to my eye another example of so much tissue elsewhere. I imagine this balance is part of what you are saying.

[rickb]

Especially on really loose pieces like this, after I create them I like to view them for at least a few weeks before going to molds. Looking for angles that are off, etc. THere are a few things I will tweak on this work, and I'll look at the pecks.

This is the first time I've posted a piece for feedback like this. I figured this crowd would give me some useful critiques, what it evokes, etc -- so thanks!

[waveshop]

I, for some reason, want to see the clay smooth right into the steel base pole. Plus, those two slits in the base,... I could see clay sort of "spewing out" a bit, loose textured like the torso. Part of the knee or something. Im not real sure if the base is part of your piece to be cast, but thats what I see with it in the full frame your showing. I am prob. showing my ignorance by thinking your modeling stand is part of the piece to be cast. Its Intense and powerfull though.

Rob

[rickb]

Hi Rob,
Yes the base in an integral part of the work. I've been doing a lot of thinking about the intersection of art/humanity and technology these days. I'm enhanced by each but torn between them...

Its hard to see from the picture but along with the base thrusting upward, coming from neck of the torso is a pinion (gear). The base is a "found object" -- a piece of a machine. An intertwining of arts and sciences, humanity/technology.
So I do intend to cast the base. The idea of some "humanity" flowing out from the slits in the base is an interesting one... symbolically a two way interaction....

Thanks for the input.

RB

[sculptorsam]

I like the contrast of mechanical with human, always have. I think this piece is very strong as well. Both the human and the mechanical are incomplete, separated from their wholes which would allow them to function. The only stylisticly jarring effect is the ultra polished gear against the modeled human skin. Perhaps in bronze the flesh would be more reflective and tie the surfaces in better. Or the base could be corroded in some manner to bridge the gap however slightly. Anyway, these are my thoughts. Take them for what they're worth.

Sam