The Sculptor's Chisel
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The core of art is in the heart. By academic persuasion sentimentality is disparaged along with any rigor to understand the classical approach. I dare say, that the study of sculpture has moved from arrangement to derangement!
For now sculptor teachers in the universities consider the shocking to be original. I would say it is a striving for going out of bounds, to a point of morbid curiosity. The more shocking the work of art is, the more original. The perversity of the situation of the modern approach to original, is to actually be more like ones teacher. If you reject this notion, you will not stay in the academic environment too long. If you reference your thesis with footnotes from other academics, then you are considered an authority!
Whereas in ancient Greece, to be original is to go to the origin! The origin of all thought begins in the vacuum of the mind. One is left to ponder upon nature, and arrive at ones own conclusion independently of the flock of gulls, that we call the university. Having gone to the origin of the matter one becomes the author, or rather the authority!
If you are looking for a classical approach you are not just looking for realistic. To be too real, can create a sort of wax works or dead look. Realism is not classical! The realistic cannons of proportions need to have a naturalism.
The myths of ancient times were not so different between the occidental and the oriental. They told stories of the gods in relation to mankind. In the West we had the archetypal warrior of Achilles, and the East it was Arjuna. The split became more apparent with the invention of the Abrahamic traditions, that were concerned with behavior, and the East remains today concerned with consciousness.
From Giorgio Vasari there was rule, order, proportion, design and manner were subordinates of inventiveness. Grazia, or gracefulness was a beauty that had the quality to overwhelm both artist and viewer. As with Burke’s sublime, Grazia could not be defined. Hence Beauty cannot be defined, other than a state of mind that is indefinable
The movement of all the parts to make a whole statement, with sound structure. You may say where structure becomes weak, the movement weakens. Where movement is strong, structure is strong.
Correct placement. The correct sculpture in the right place. The great halls in the great institutions are filled with marbled portraits of the great men of history. Impropriety is putting a bronze statue, in the national sculpture hall where marble belongs.
Grandiose compositions are seldom achieved, one should take into the economy of the project. Not to be confused with simplicity of design, economy is the budget. Note Vitruvius puts economy as the last requisite for an architect.
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