what's your symbol?

["George Graham" <georgergraham@zzzzzzzzzzz>]

Janson ends his bit on Fabro with instructions to all
sculptors at large:
"Contemporary sculpture has lost its "idol" quality, in
the full meaning of the term that Baudelaire intended: not
simply its solid space-filling reality but its role as
fetish--an object to be worshiped for its demonic power,
the symbol of something mysterious and profound--even if,
according to the author, it prevents the artist from
expressing his unique point of view.  But how is it
possible to endow sculpture with the status of a fetish in
this post-modern age, with its pervasive belief in nothing
except the failure of Western civilization?  It can be
done, but only by rediscovering the power of myth and
using to invest sculpture with new meaning."

One of my favorite Fetishists:
http://www.tanyapreminger.com

Bill,
I first want to thank you for continuing to be an unending source of
challenging, thought provoking , and eye-opening thoughts.
I found Tanya Preminger's work to clever and truly funny on many levels. The
little tomb stones running away was especially good. His work is coming as
close to  hitting the mark of modern\contemporary symbols of our time, as
anyone I've seen. The piece titled "screen" might be the one to last.
Janson's article really hits a nerve with me. I believe a sculptor's highest
calling to make symbols that represent our present culture. Unfortunately,
our world today is so fragmented that there is no one symbol that speaks to
all. All an artists can do is follow his instincts and draw inspiration from
current events. Sometimes I come up with a piece that seems to connect with
many people , the same way. I haven't figured out how to "make" it happen.
Maybe for me, less thinking and more carving is way.
As I understand art history, early sculptors work was restricted by
religious rules,and the governing power. They ,generally speaking, knew the
rules and restrictions controlling their work.
Now there are no rules. An artists can make anything they want. Work can be
make that offend just about everyone, and the creator is not burned at the
stake. Their work may not be sellable, but the artists is free to express
themselves.
So Janson's challenge to us is, what do sculptor's have to say about today's
world? What 3-d object can be made that shows the public what they are? Is
there a sculpture that can give us hope and bring us together, and bring
some enlightenment to so many disillusioned people?
Preminger's  piece the screen, and also the bottles of love and hate tell me
that Janson needs to keep checking in on your fotki site to see that there
are sculptors in the world that are not boring.
The latest object I've come across that strikes me as a symbol of our times
is a small land mine. Relax, it's open, and empty, but it is an amazing
combination of practical functionality and lethal design that make it a very
chilling and powerful symbol. It's not uplifting, but very enlightning. How
much energy went into making something  small, economical , and cheap and
easy to use. Did I say chilling?
Thanks for the poke in the ribs to wake me up!
George Graham