Quote for the Day

[JAZ]

"There are only a limited number of shapes or forms in the world and the viewer will see some reference or image in the sculpture whether or not it's intended. Every form has the potential for association..." - by Mel Kendrick

[RuBert]

I like that, much like in music, the rearrangement of the notes is what forms the new melodies. All our english words are but the reforming of 26 letters from the alphabet.

[fritchie]

"There are only a limited number of shapes or forms in the world and the viewer will see some reference or image in the sculpture whether or not it's intended. Every form has the potential for association..." - by Mel Kendrick

This is far from true, except in a very general sense. There is one spherical shape, one cubical shape, a strictly limited number of cylindrical or box (3D rectangle) shapes, and so on, but literally an infinite number of less regular shapes. I honestly don't know who Mel Kendrick is, and maybe I’m showing my ignorance and insulting a very astute observer, but I find the statement shallow (on the order of “history has come to an end; nothing more exists to be discovered”. So, pillory me if necessary.

[JAZ]

No need for the pillory, Fritchie. Disagreeing is equally valid. I took the quote from the wall of the Addison Gallery of American Art in Andover where it was next to a wall sculpture by Mel Kendrick. It was a linear arrangement of thin strips and planes of wood in various colors. I don't know a lot about him. It was actually the second part of the quote I felt related to the discussion of Araich's new pieces, but I didn't want to take that sentence out of its context, so I posted the whole thing. I also disagree with the first part.
What he's actually getting at is the way gestalt works. In our innate need to make order out of chaos we "see" things in random visual stuff. We can't help but make associations when we look at "abstract" forms. Our brains are wired to do it.

Here's another one that's surprising in view of when it was written:
"A work of art does not appeal to the intellect. It does not appeal to the moral sense. Its aim is not to instruct, not to edify, but to awaken an emotion." George Inness 1825-1894 (landscape painter)

[JAZ]

I like that, much like in music, the rearrangement of the notes is what forms the new melodies. All our english words are but the reforming of 26 letters from the alphabet.
Nice...the music reference. I use the 26 letters idea with my children's book writing students. It is truly amazing that all of the hundreds of thousands of books everywhere are really only arrangements of 26 words. Speaking of books, I recently read "The DaVinci Code" and "Angels and Demons" by Dan Brown. Have you? I never would have thought that books with an art historian/symbologist for the hero would be so exciting and so talked about by everyone.

[RuBert]

I just finished reading "The DaVinci Code" myself and really enjoyed it. It spoons out a tangled web of intricacies that are resolved in remarkable ways. I found myself reaching for the art books to have a closer look at the paintings in question, and would love to visit the actual locations mentioned in the book.

[JAZ]

I just finished reading "The DaVinci Code" myself and really enjoyed it. It spoons out a tangled web of intricacies that are resolved in remarkable ways. I found myself reaching for the art books to have a closer look at the paintings in question, and would love to visit the actual locations mentioned in the book.
The art in Angels and Demons is focused on sculpture, particularly Bernini's. The main thrust of that one has to do with the Vatican. If you can believe it, Angels and Demons is even faster paced and more full of surprises.

[fritchie]

JAZ - Thanks for letting me off the hook on this one. The more I thought about the first part of the statement, the more I thought it had a certain validity, and the more I disliked its possible implications. In a very basic way (sort of as you suggest), it relates to stereotypes the mind constructs, in an attempt to simplify the world and to make experience manageable. In fact, this angle of the issue is close to something covered here about last June or July - the way the mind works, the way concepts are formed, and the role language plays in these issues.

Back to the recent statement: it may be read as “there is one two-legged animal, one four-legged animal, and so on. That is, man (and woman, all men and all women), gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans and so on, are basically the same; horses, dogs, giraffes, and so on, equally are the same. You see the problem.

But, at the same time the statement recognizes a basic brain characteristic, the sort you describe well. A different illustration of this brain behavior comes into play with optical illusion. The brain tries to “fill in the blanks” when confronted with partially coherent or ambiguous visual information. Thus, the stairsteps that flip back and forth between advancing toward the observer and looking upside down, and all the other common examples.

[sculptorsam]

I checked out that book recommendation, Joyce. Angels and Demons must be popular because there are 100 holds placed on it at my local library. I made it 101. (The Da Vinci Code had 300+ so I didn't even bother.)

I don't have anything to add to the quote in questions but I can offer a new one...

"The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge." Daniel J. Boorstin

[Stephen Casey]

I make the assumption that almost every person that will view my physical art as being something other than what I see it as. That is the only constant to my presentation, the only thing I can count on.

Harold Bloom's Genius is the last major art (poetry) history I alawed my self time for, and what an almighty pleasure it was. So many great works referenced. Before I finished reading Genius, I had bought about $500 dollars worth of books it lead to that for the most part I do not have the health to consume. But perhaps some day. Still a great pleasure to dip into.

Cognition in particular perseption has always facinated me, at least as far back as age five. As I matured I am always falling in love with some new slant on how the mind works, from way back to "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain", to the "The Einstein Factor." The answer to the universe seems so clear for a short while. But that is just my manic side getting away with myself. (Bipolar)

[sculptor]

.......limited # of shapes.......

the magic is in the combinations

no 2 people nor trees nor mountains nor valleys nor rivers nor sculptures look alike

with 4 letters in the alphabet we are woven from combinations that spell a woundrously diverse myriad of skills, thoughts, dreams and deeds.

every vision is as though through a cristiline lense with infinite facets and maybe one or 2 of us may share one for a fleeting moment.

ain't it grand?

[JAZ]

"The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge." Daniel J. Boorstin
A good reflection because attitude determines openness to possibility, and it also distinguishes between knowledge and that ephemeral illusion. A good vote for humility, though humility has its pitfalls too. Maybe rather than humility, innocence or some such. Through the open eyes of innocence it is possible to see things fresh and new.

[Roy]

.......limited # of shapes.......the magic is in the combinations
Sculptor, are you the poet? what are the 4 letters? Are you on a Poetry site too?

[sculptorsam]

Maybe rather than humility, innocence or some such. Through the open eyes of innocence it is possible to see things fresh and new.

There is an idea in Zen called The Beginner's Mind. That has always been a beautifully simple way to express this "innocence" without denigrating knowledge gained over time and through experience.

Sam

[JAZ]

There is an idea in Zen called The Beginner's Mind. That has always been a beautifully simple way to express this "innocence" without denigrating knowledge gained over time and through experience.

Sam
I like that. I have the book upstairs. Should reread it.

[sculptor]

Sculptor, are you the poet? what are the 4 letters? Are you on a Poetry site too?

It's been a very long while since my studies in organic chemestry---------(memory don't fail me now) I think the letters are: C T G and A ?

a poet? how nice, thank you Roy

rod(sculptor)