pointing machines barry x ball

["Clive Murray-White" <clivemw@zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz>]

Hi all,

Just couldn't let this one go without a word or two, probably because I've
been using highly, some would say ridiculously, coloured marbles for years
and minus Ball's crazy methodology, set out to make what is euphemistically
called "contemporary gallery" sculpture.

One of the strangest things is that the "public" surprisingly finds coloured
marble infinitely more interesting than the pure white stuff, I'm not sure
what that says, but feel that its got something to do with the fact that it
matches the way we see ourselves these days.

With respect to my American colleagues one of the things that excited me
most when I started making this kind of sculpture was that I rather cheekily
believed that it was about the very last thing that a serious American
artist could let themselves do. Why? you may ask. Well its my belief that
just as the Renaissance caused a shocking logjam for thinking beyond it in
Italian art, Minimalism and late Modernism has done exactly the same for
American art. My belief is that unless an American artists can source their
work through America's only major contribution to the History of art then
there is very little chance of it being taken seriously by the powers that
control such things.

It is against this backdrop that Barry X's work must be viewed and
subsequently seen to be a beautifully pedigreed proposition as it contains
references to all the key tickbox components that is required, and added to
this is the highly radical and nearly blasphemous inclusion of the figure
shaped in stone in this kind of art.

The craziest element in all this is that it is clear that it is most
important in the scheme of things that the viewer knows that the artist used
a machine to make his figure thus making it possible for it to be placed
within the general framework of potentially significant US art.

I would contend that if Barry X Ball had made it himself by hand, which we
all know would have been much easier, there is almost no chance that he
would be enjoying US serious Art world sponsorship.

I personally see Ball's work as a very tentative and nervous foray into
expanding the horizons of contemporary art. I don't think it would be unfair
to suggest that he simply makes fairly predictable stock-in-trade
contemporary style installations cloaked in all the necessary popular
verbiage.

What we should be really enthusiastic about is the fact that Ball by using a
machine has made it infinitely more likely that the hurdles that need to be
leapt before US art can overcome the barrier that it accidentally created
for itself with Minimalism will tumble very rapidly.

Well that's my hope anyway.

Best regards to all, Clive

Sculptor Clive Murray-White
Web: www.cowwarr.com