Back from Little Rock, Arkansas having installed my sixth major piece of public art. None of these installations comes off without a hitch, but it seemed like this one was actually easier than some of the others - perhaps indicating that John* and I are actually learning? Personally, I was able to relax a bit more, which in turn allowed me to communicate better with our crane operator and everyone helping us. The elderly crane owner was there (in addition to the operator) and his expertise made a huge impact - but he was very soft-spoken and had the thickest Arkansas accent I'd yet encountered. It took a conscious effort on my part to pause and really talk things over with him in order to comprehend what he was advising. I think I've finally gotten mature enough to shut off the ego and do what's needed to achieve the goal. About time. Also, the Little Rock Parks and Rec guys were there to help us out, and they REALLY did. The strongest lesson I came away with was that we collectively are much more capable and wise than any of us is singularly.

* - John Kinkade, the Executive Director of the National Sculptors' Guild and my dear friend of 16 years. (That's him on the far right above.)

More pictures here.

Tags: Process, Commission, Public Art, Quality

This picture, of Antony Gormley's "Waste Man" burning - filling the air with the noxious smoke of tons of discarded wood - set me thinking. Uh oh.

I understand that part of the point of this piece was to call attention to the massive amounts of waste we in the developed world produce, and to highlight the ephemeral essence of all the "stuff" we strive so hard to acquire. Gormley is one of my favorite sculptors - but this kind of condescending spectacle has definitely lowered his esteem in my eyes. Why exacerbate the very problems you are hoping to solve?

This brings up a point that bugs me no end regarding my own choice of method and material: how to reconcile the obvious environmental crisis-in-progress and my part in it with my (and our culture's) need to create and express. Is Gormley's monstrous cloud of smoke any worse in the end than the unseen multiple such clouds emanating from the iron mine, the steel mill, the tractor-trailer delivering the raw material for MY sculptures? Finding a point of equilibrium that allows one to be in the world without accelerating it's destruction is probably the most profound and important question we all must ask ourselves as we venture into a new millennium.

What do you think?

Tags: Process, Quality

I am in a state of stunned disbelief. A bit of news has crept up on me from the vast buzzing of the interwebs. This news is arcane and oddball, like so much of the info soup out there, but it has seeped inside me and found some long-forgotten place of joy and excitement - and killed it. Gary Gygax, the mastermind behind Dungeons and Dragons, has died. Geekboy enough for ya? Well, it gets worse. I not only spent countless hours playing D&D - I did it by myself. I was both Dungeon Master and Players. I designed vast worlds and complicated labyrinths, drawing up countless maps on graph paper and populating them with creatures both good and evil. I then rolled up character after character to explore these lands and live these stories - those games are still some of the strongest and most engaging memories I have from my youth. But it wasn't all just play. Profound lessons can be learned when you play god and mortal both. Characters I had nurtured for months could be slain by one bad roll, and I was the one with the power to change that outcome. But there in the Dungeon Master's Guide, Gary Gygax had written more than just the instructions for how to play the game - there was a tone to the underlying scheme that encouraged the rational analysis of ethics. I feel that D&D, like all great fiction - especially fantasy and science fiction - is a metaphor, a sign pointing the way to truths that are beyond the storyline. So much important learning and interaction is scoffed at by the mainstream because it is couched in the "uncool". So simple a thing for a man to do as to invent a game - but that game can hold the key to a deeper understanding of life itself. A belated, unheard, and ultimately useless:
Thank You, Gary.

Tags: Quality

Making art is a very personal process that oftentimes borders on mental masturbation. Maybe that's why I like it so much >grin<.

Creativity can be seen as a dialog you are having with yourself, with the dialectic centering around finding balance between your own skills and the qualia of the medium your dealing with. For me, there is a fine line between craftsmanship and fussiness - perfection is an idea, not a reality. If your work is exclusively about dotting i.'s and crossing t.'s, expressing nothing more than "look how good I am", then it's appeal to an audience that is not you becomes pretty limited. Striding the razor's edge between craft and expression can be seen as the fundamental struggle of artistic endeavor. I have learned to trust my eyes and my hands to produce that which I see in my mind's eye - but I've also payed a price physically while developing that trust. Both wrists and my right shoulder are permanently damaged from pushing just a little harder to get that piece done. Growing older and becoming more involved in large Public art projects have forced me to outsource the fabrication of the bigger sculptures, with a commensurate loss of control. I'm still learning how to make this new process work.

The above pictured piece, "Together", was fabricated by Master Metal Works here in Fort Collins. They've done a good job - but not as good as I would have done. That's the crux of the issue: surrendering just enough control to get the work done without sacrificing the overall quality of the sculpture.

Tags: Process, Public Art, Quality

I finally had the motivation to get professional photos of some of my recent small pieces. Happily, I happen to know a guy who is both a brilliant photographer and interested in my work - enough to want to work a trade. As I was importing the fruits of his labors into my computer, I realized that each and every image was beautiful. Thanks, Jafe.

Take a look:

There are more in the "Small" section.

Tags: Process, Quality