Monday, June 18, 2012

Burst

Burst
Mixed Media
2012
 








My friend Dan's mum had this thing about never throwing anything out since it someday it might be useful for some art project at some time.  This sculpture is a fine example of her philosophy at work. The hand is my own that I had cast several years ago. It was intended for another sculpture which I haven't finished yet. The grip wasn't correct for what I wanted it for so I slopped some paint on it and shelved it.  Over time it sat, sometimes being used to hold toilet paper rolls. One day I was looking at some this resin pour that didn't turn out the way I wanted. I combined the resin with the hand then began sculpting the "bursting water" which is another set of resin castings.

There were a few times, especially during moves, that I've been tempted to throw things out that just didn't seem to work out the way I wanted, but then find these things useful eventually. The moral is just because things don't turn out the way you want it exactly doesn't mean it's useless. It might just take time to figure things out.


Temporary Art - or Found Objects on a Beach







May 2010 I was on the Washington coast in the little vacation town of Seabrook.  A short walk from the house and you were on the beach.  I've always loved the beach, even when it's too cold to swim.  I love the sound of waves crashing, the fresh salty smell in the air, building in castles in the sand.  This particular day I was alone on the beach for, I guess a couple hours. I really lost track of time while gathering and assembling various pieces of driftwood, crab shells, kelp, and even an old tire.  I didn't really have a plan or vision from the beginning, only an impulse of what needed to be where.  The result, I'm not really sure what it really was supposed to be but it turned out rather massive. It actually remained for a few weeks.

The next year when I returned to the same beach I was reminded of my piece of random beach art.  While walking the beach, enjoying the wind, there wasn't a great inspiration to make something like the previous year.

This last April, I again was in Seabrook, on the beach. The day was actually really unpleasant. Cold steady misty rain carried bitterly on the incessant wind.  Despite the conditions the desire to build had returned.  I began with a stump, and driftwood.  I wanted to make a sort of sand castle fortress.  I found a very cool stick and crab shell to make my little alien creature to live in the fortress. I didn't actually build as much as I wanted to, but the miserable conditions of the day won and I left after taking some quick photos.





  



What is most appealing to me about these, and even something I've loved about sandcastles, is the spending time building, creating, there is the memory and feeling of doing it. A moment of passion, then is left behind. It will crumble and fall in time or be crushed but what mattered was it's short existence.