Ron Mueck

[don dougan <dondougan@zzzzzzzz>]

Hi All,

If you have never seen Ron Mueck's work in person you don't know what you
are responding to . . . some of his pieces are smaller than life-size,
some are larger.  Photographs only hint at the depth to which his work
affects the viewer.

All of his pieces are impeccibly crafted and uncanny (really spooky!) in
their realism (both in the flesh, and in the fabric of the clothes, etc.)

At the Venice Bienalle in 2001(?) I overheard some viewers arguing about
whether or not the '4-foot high adult crouching man' in the plexiglas
case was alive (and holding his breath) or a piece of sculpture.  They
were viewing the figure from less than twelve inches away - and could not
tell if it is real or fake.  I knew it was a piece of sculpture, but I
could find no flaw in Mueck's technique.

And this last December I saw five of his works in an exhibit in Paris
(including the large woman under the bedcovers as shown in the photo
link).  His work is so realistic that technique is not the issue -- the
issue is scale.  None of his works are 'life-size' -- they are either
larger or smaller.  The craftsmanship is so good that the scale and the
absolute stillness are the only 'tells.'   (obviously the works that
consist of partial figures, heads, faces, etc. are tells too)

Viewing the pieces, you find yourself looking at another human being
(your neighbor perhaps) . . . but your neighbor is (usually) a
drastically different size than you.   How does that make you feel?  If
that is not the stuff of art then how can you say a piece of stone
sculpture is art?

We all work towards our own vision, and thank goodness for that . . .
Vive la difference!

Good Carving (or siliconing as the case may be) to You,

Don

http://www.dondougan.homestead.com/indexdd.html