I my case, when doing sculpture, i start with a lump of soft clay, a
clear definite urge to make a
new design of the female form, one that feels balance from all views.
I live within two definite
languages and two definite cultures, the best of both of which must
be universally satisfied to
one soul, seem to be an unconscious effort.
mando
On Jan 9, 2009, at 5:42 AM, Michael Brady wrote:
When I draw a representational picture--for example, a room--I
think (quite consciously, btw) that the ceiling line **goes back in
space**, although all I've done is draw a flat diagonal line on the
paper. Or when I draw the model's arm, I think of the line that
**goes around the wrist**, although it is merely an elliptical arc.
One could say that the notion that the ceiling line "goes back in
space" or the other line "goes around the wrist" is *the meaning*
of the line, although in reality the line is only a two-dimensional
mark on a sheet of paper. It doesn't "mean" anything, now does it?
After all, the human viewer "interprets" the line to "mean" a room
or figure.
I believe this experience is pretty much universal. We see the
representation as we make it, rather than the mediating entity. One
way in which a trained artist is different from an amateur or
student, as I've seen, is that the artist can shift his attention
between the represented thing in the picture (i.e., the line that
"goes back in space") and the actual form of the representation
(the diagonal charcoal line).
Generalizing a bit: When I extend my arm, I consciously will my arm
to reach outward. I can then decide to pronate or supinate it, to
bend my arm at the elbow, etc. To a small degree, I can control
individual muscles. I can show off my buff physique by
intentionally tensing my biceps or deltoids or pectorals. But I
cannot control all the muscles specifically: I can rarely
intentionally cause a specific muscle to tense up. I have to choose
to execute an end result (extend the arm) rather than consciously
give instructions to all the muscles involved in the action.
How is this related to drawing? In this way: In both cases, I am
far more conscious of choosing the result (extend arm, draw line
that goes back in space) rather than choosing the instrumental
intermediate thing (tense the triceps, relax the biceps, tense the
deltoids, relax the brachioradialis; or draw a diagonal line from
upper left to lower right).
Even more obvious than these examples is the way I react to hearing
or reading words in English. I simply cannot hear spoken English
without immediately (a) recognizing that it is English; and (b)
grasping the content (i.e., "meaning") of what is being said.
Equally so with written English. Now, I am quite adept at playing
around with the sounds of words, so I can manipulate the
intermediate form (the sounds) to produce different results (puns,
jokes, ambiguities, etc.), but I hear the meaning of the spoken
words first, before I manipulate them. And likewise, I read the
"meaning" of words before I look at their spelling or the typeface
they are set in.
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Michael Brady
[email protected]
