No Class Today

Well, I am worried about my sculpture instructor...hope he's OK since he didn't make it to class today.

I'm just blogging out of obligation right now. I am happy to report I found three writing instruments. One of them is an old pencil torn in half and badly damaged...but by God...I'm not going to let this pencil feel sorry for itself. It still has lots of good use left in it.

My dad roomed with a dude who lost both legs in WW2. He used to tend bar and the callouses left from his artificial legs were huge. But the old boys who trained him to use them after WW2 did not let him indulge in self-pity and he went on to live an OK life without legs. His determination was an inspiration to my dad and a 16 year old boy. So.... "pencil...your personal life is whatever you want to do...(And old Eric was a drinking man. It was funny to watch him remove his artificial legs while drunk. Dad had to help him sometimes.)...but when it comes time to get your shit done...you better be ready whether you got your bottom half or not!!!"

My new project

Finished my ten bag project. Also made a silicon mold of a fake bar of used Dial soap. Think I'll give it as Christmas gifts next year.

Also, made a plaster mold of Chief Crazy Horse coming out of the mountain block in South Dakota. Got the wax in it and will see the results tomorrow...here's a pic...

The New Direction of Art

This is part two to my earlier blog. This should probably be shared with all my current and former instructors but they're probably getting tired of emails. So I'll leave it to the reader to share with others.

This was fascinating .....

http://www.pbs.org/arts/work/off-book-episode-10-generative-art/

Mattress Factory

I love this artist's attitude, experiences and installation. First of all, he lived the life like a Gonzo journalist...(Oh, by the way, just saw Johnny Depp's new movie The Rum Diaries...totally hilarious and important movie to see...loved it!! Hunter S. Thompson is one of my heroes.)

Anyway...old Than down here is producing positive art. It was great that he and his wife were doing relief work in Burma after a cyclone hit the delta in 2008. The effect upon the viewer, well at least this viewer, is incredible!! The negative space versus positive space provides an interesting asymmetrical balance yet the final composition is harmonious. Also organic shapes of the bread and the hands and their texture almost makes one feel that you a re starving and being handed a very delicious loaf of fresh bread. Bread has sustained humans for centuries...very few people value that today.

I think his experience as a baker was directly involved with the continuity aspect of this installation piece. There are dozens of loaves of bread and as a baker he surely produced dozens of loaves of bread...perhaps a little analogy to Christ feeding the multitudes.

In the Air Force, we conducted dozens of humanitarian missions starting with the Berlin Airlift. (They actually air-dropped candy for German children in Berlin during the airlift. They were called "The Candy Bombers." I feel a personal kinship with Than Htay Maung...Here is his BIO quoted from the mattress factory website.

Oh...and below that is a youtube about the candy bombers...

"Than Htay Maung was born in 1958 in Pathien, Burma. He lives in Pittsburgh with his wife Khet Mar, City of Asylum/Pittsburgh's writer-in-residence. His installation work, created out of found materials, is politically charged commentary on news and its veracity and dissemination to the public. Whether making an installation about satellite news distribution in Burma or sending SOS bottles filled with commentary down the Irrawaddy River, Than Htay Maung’s work always asks the viewer to question what he or she believes to be the truth. He has previously exhibited in a Gestures exhibition at the Mattress Factory and in New York."


   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAbEQp1DgAg&feature=related