Mando wrote: "I think that working from one's soul will attain better Aesthetic results than always making copies of models and expecting life to emerge. That's like playing 'mary had a little lamb' over and over and expect the classics to emerge."
while William wrote: "Every artist works with a model in mind, however vague or eclectic. The artist is always working for and against some model of what art can be" To put Mando's remark in context - it came shortly after he was looking at internet pictures of my own sculptures, most of which (but not all) were begun while studying a model --- the kind that takes her clothes off and stands still in the middle of a drafty studio. So ... I think that is the kind of model to which he was referring. Possibly Mando was just deploring the aesthetic results of my own humble efforts -- but I think he was also suggesting that working from models (the kind mentioned above) is only appropriate as an exercise for students since "one needs a good foundation before, in any creative endeavor" -- which then led him to his grim conclusion that "I get the feeling that you really don't know as much about art as i thought." And here I would protest -- not that I know a lot about art (especially since I try to avoid that terrible word) -- but that the best aesthetic results can only be achieved without the use of models (the kind that hold still and get studied -- like people on a platform, or flowers on a table, or trees and hills out in the countryside) And I would assert that the use of this kind of model is a practice that is unique to the Western European cultural tradition -- is especially appropriate to the amateur (but not necessarily inferior) practitioner -- and will continue to be practiced, mastered, and loved long after the quirky trends of the 20th C. have become historical footnotes. It's practice is rather problematic (hare brained?)in sculpture -- because it is so difficult, technical, time consuming, and especially space devouring. And yet with the work of Rodin and Count Trubetsky to encourage us -- we can charge forward! ____________________________________________________________ Make your vacation more memorable with a luxurious vacation rental. Click now! http://thirdpartyoffers.netzero.net/TGL2231/fc/Ioyw6ijmguiRhATOeyHEPLaiy9w7pA wodNime5FDhVfMe8a99oVRju/
