From:
"Clive Murray-White" <clivemw@zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz>
Date:
Thu, 13 Apr 2006 08:35:05 +1000
Subject:
The Truth
Hi Norman,
All the examples you mentioned as things one couldn't do anymore fall into
the ultimate single subject for artists; the condition of being human and
strange as it may sound it is not axiomatic that these "old" subjects need
to be completely off the table.
From my own perspective, ie personal bias, this revelation was just the
breakthrough I was looking for. For quite some time I found myself knowing
in my heart that a soup can, a 6' square cube or a urinal for that matter
just couldn't cut it when put up against, say, one of Michelangelo's
"slaves". And as we all know time is very cruel to new art as it just
swallows it up into a big generality.
If I were to list my priorities in the same way that you are doing I would
include, just like you, my view of the state of the world (environment,
optimism v pessimism rating, etc) my view of the political situation that I
find myself in + all sorts of shades of what I think it is to be alive. I
also add one deep personal hunch that in our headlong rush to claim that our
time is so different to all others we arrogantly lost touch with our root
culture leaving us feeling even more alienated than we need to.
One of my very deeply felt contentions is that art of our countries gets
ambushed by the way that our nation behaves and that if you don't altogether
agree with the way that its doing things you are not only required to
protest but make absolutely sure that you are using an aesthetic that avoids
being accidentally associated with what you feel is wrong with your country.
My remedy for this was to choose to make a kind of sculpture that could, at
a cursory glance, be taken for a ruined fragment from something from our
distant past, in other words be a metaphor what I feel has happened to us
over time.
Given that this has been so very successful for me I wouldn't hesitate to
recommend it to others. I think my main argument is that using an old or
even standard subject and interpreting it in terms of the present has many
advantages.
All the best Clive
Sculptor Clive Murray-White
Web: http://www.cowwarr.com/CliveMurray-White/
- References
- message 00678: The Truth - George Graham (12 Apr 2006)
- message 00679: The Truth - Norman Watts (12 Apr 2006)
- Previous by Thread: message 00697: The Truth - Oscar Bearinger (14 Apr 2006)
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- Previous by Date: message 00680: The Truth - daedelus lanthanien (12 Apr 2006)
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