Score #39 one sculpture, one room filled to the rafters with sculpted sound.

 

I had a studio visit recently with an art critic. We talked for two hours about all of my work, my long term goals, short term plans and my artist statement for score. Regarding score she suggested I rent a storage unit for all my work except score. Move score to my new studio and fill the studio to the rafters with with the sweet sound of delicious violin music

 

artist statement - revised.  

”Score” is a sculpture of energy, sound and the physical act of playing contemporary classical music, and its primal impact on emotions.  I was inspired by a long exposure photograph of my cousin, Arkansas Symphony Concert Master Andrew Irvin, that captured multiple images as he played his violin. I was struck by the simple back and forth movements of a bow, composed of horse hair, drawn across strings that create emotionally charged sounds. In this piece, the music radiates off the musician as he plays, as well as off the strings of the violin, sometimes like a painfully slow waltz, and sometimes with the sharpness of a quickstep. Working on the piece during the last weeks of my father’s life I examined each movement of the bow and the wire/sound that comes off the violin. Some warble and then end sharply like a tear running down a cheek. Others gently twist into a whisper that fades into a broken heart, and some linger and then pivot like a murmuration of birds and is set free, each movement triggering a unique emotion. I applied the concept of seeing multiple images, and seeing music as emotional energy in three dimensions. The piece is built on a steel armature covered in plaster, recycled wire cloth, and baling wire.


just a quick phone sketch 

just a quick phone sketch 

“Score” big day of pruning #38

Monday, I had a meeting with the artist, Brian Portman. Brian speaks wire and teaches drawings no and painting at Glassell.  I asked him to stop in my work space to look at the piece with fresh and wise eyes. I find his suggestions are dead on. He had no trouble seeing the movement of the hands, and understood my vision of seeing the music. He felt the music that wrapped around the back of the figure and worked its way into the movement of the right arm was burdensome. He felt it looked like he was carrying something on his back. So today it pruned away.

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After the pruning.  

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Side view after the pruning.  

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Before the pruning.  

 

I might need to do to do some more pruning.  

“score” after a critique score #37

I had a studio visit Thursday with one of  Houston’s top curators. This was her third visit to my studio. She gets my work and I highly value her input. It is always nice when they love your work but when you are trying something new that does not always happen. I  don’t Invite them to visit your studio just to give you compliments. I showed her the piece I am currently working on without sharing with her my artist statement. 

My artist statement-”Score” is a sculpture of energy, sound and the physical act of playing contemporary classical music and its primal impact on emotions. I was inspired by a long exposure photograph of my cousin, Arkansas Symphony Concert Master Andrew Irvin, that captured multiple images as he played his violin. I was struck by the simple back and forth movements of a bow drawn by hairs of a horse across strings that create emotionally charged sounds. I cannot carry a tune, I don’t understand musical terms, I have never played or tried to play an instrument, and I don’t sing. I danced, I took many years of ballet. When I listen to music I feel and see movement.  On this piece, the music radiates off of the musician as he plays as well as off the strings of the violin, sometimes like a painfully slow waltz and sometimes with the sharpness of a quick step. I examine each movement of the bow and the wire that comes off the violin, some warble and then end sharply, others gently twist into a whisper that fades, and some linger and then like a murmuration of birds’ pivots. I applied the concept of seeing multiple images, and seeing music as energy in three dimensions. The piece is built on a steel armature covered in plaster, recycled wire cloth, and bailing wire.)

 

She saw my artistic interpretation of the violin music, and movement captured over a period of time as dead vines or plant growth overcoming a  figure and she did not recognize my blurred hands as movement. I really appreciate her honesty, her comments will help me make it a better piece.  I want the viewer to have to spend time with the piece. I want them to have to figure out what I am saying. Keeping that in mind I have to decide how to make the hands look like hands that are blurred. I think the solution is to physically put some blurred fingers closer to the plaster hands. 

 

She also thought the face needed to be either very refined or  less defined. 

I was pleased to hear that because I have had the urge to further abstract the face. Today I placed some if the 1/4 rusted and broken wire cloth over his face and I kind of like it. To me it seems to blur the figure as movement blurs in a photograph. I will live with it awhile and if I am not pleased in a week or two I will probably add more plaster and do a Manuel Neri thing to his face. 

She loved the back side side of him and suggested I look at  http://chiharu-shiota.com/en/works/ 

I am was not familiar with Chiharu - shiota’s work, and wow! I would love to have place to just go crazy and fill a room with the music made by my figure. This is a thought to keep in the back of my mind. 

There is a hole in the armature near his crotch  that bothered her. I have been waiting for someone to mention this. It is an easy fix, I will get to it eventually. 

She is not a fan of the plaster as a material for this subject. Many sculptors first make small plaster maquettes of their sculptors before they make the piece full size. On this point I respectfully disagree there are many acclaimed artist who work in plaster. I love the white plaster and how it contrast with the wire. 

The above images reflect the changes I made as a result of the critique.  

“score”- Seeing sound #36

Thinking about my sculpture I googled seeing sound. I found the below link that explains how scientist now have cameras that record what sound looks like. 

https://www.npr.org/2014/04/09/300563606/what-does-sound-look-like 

 

I also found the below fasinating article regarding the Nuerology of sight, sound. 

 

https://www.livescience.com/5045-scientists-sound.html 

 I love it when scienc and art cross paths. 


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sketch I did in preparation for the sculpture. 

 

 

“score” #35

4/7

I worked on the left pants leg today. Adding the blur from the movement. 

The before on the left and after on the right. 

score #30

March 28th - a day of adding notes- 

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Score- #29 a meditation

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I have no idea whether what I am making is “good art” or “bad art,” but I do know that my brain loves painstakingly placing each and every tiny piece of delicate wire exactly where and how my imagination envisions it, and the sounds that come from the strings of the violin, as the horse hair bow, drawn in a focused and precise manner, moves across them. The energy that this sculpture is depicting is both physical and emotional. The work on this part, for me, is a meditation. I don’t really think about it; I just listen and imagine as I twist and attach the wires.

“score” #29 a meditation

Photo of wires coming off the bow depicting the energy created by sound. 

Photo of wires coming off the bow depicting the energy created by sound. 

 I have no idea whether what I am making is “good art” or “bad art,” but I do know that my brain loves painstakingly placing each and every tiny piece of delicate wire exactly where and how my imagination envisions it, and the sounds that come from the strings of the violin, as the horse hair bow, drawn in a focused and precise manner, moves across them. The energy that this sculpture is depicting is both physical and emotional. The work on this part, for me, is a meditation. I don’t really think about it; I just listen and imagine as I twist and attach the wires.

“score” #26 adding some icing


My favorite part of a cake is the icing and my favorite part of this sculpture is the part I am just getting to - the icing. The little pieces, that create the quiet moments. The little nuances that add the extra flavor and detail that will hopefully make it sing. The pieces that will visually depict those tiny, fragile notes that are unique to the violin.

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“score” - #25 marching on

I was able to get another full day of work in. I was primarily focused on integrating the large piece of welded wire that makes up the movement created by his right arm with the steel and plaster figure’s arm and head. I am integrating the two by adding small broken pieces of wire cloth within the welded wire. 

Shoulder and neck attaching to the head  

Shoulder and neck attaching to the head  

Shoulder view from the front  

Shoulder view from the front  

 

I also added some tiny delicate wires to the movement of the bows. The delicate sounds coming off the strings.  

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the top back of the head 

 

 

One of my artist friends Vincent Blair stopped in and took a quick pic as I worked.  

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My wire stash is on the pedestal. 

“score” - day 2 of plaster.

3/7

This is feeling like a slow process and I am now regretting adding the wires before covering the piece in plaster. The wires are making it difficult to cover the lath and rebar. I initially wound them up to get them out of the way. Today I unwound them to see if they are less of a nuisance straight, but they are still irritating me. I am trying to decide if I should cut them off or wrap them into the piece as texture now. This is a decision I will make tomorrow when I am fresher.

Front  

Front  

Right  

Right  

Left

Left

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Back  

 

 

Score - #23 safety safety safety

The last thing I need is to have the sculpture fall on me while I am working on applying the concrete. Those  violin playing fingers would surely put a hole in my skull. 

 

First I have started stuffing the legs of the armature with paper. The paper will keep  the concrete from falling through the lath to the floor.

The lower part of the legs will be mostly solid for balance. The rest of the body will not be solid

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Detail of the armature stuffed with newspaper. 

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I have, (actually my husband Curtis helped) me attach the sculpture to a piece of plywood and attached the plywood to an 800 lb dolly. I have a piece of plastic over the dolly to keep the concrete off the plywood. The dolly will allow me to gently move it if I need to while applying the concrete and will make it very difficult to tip over.

half stuffed and secured to the 800 lb. dolly that is covered in plastic. . 

half stuffed and secured to the 800 lb. dolly that is covered in plastic. . 

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Detail of the open chest area that I am using to get the paper inside the piece.  

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End of the day- it is99% ready to for me to apply the Concrete. 

“Score” #20 lath - what to cover and what not to cover


I will not cover the entire armature in lath as some of the armature will be used to support additional materials to express the energy of the music.  I will add these materials after the lath and some after the concrete. Deciding what does and what does not get covered, is crucial in creating the right movement and energy of the piece.

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Detail of the chest covered in lath

 

“score” #19 tieing down the lath

The lath is what holds the concrete or plaster to the figure. Concrete liquefies with movement so the lath has to be tied securely, it can not have any play.

The tools  I use a hammer to manipulate the lath and to smash the sharp edges of the cut lath. The pliers are used to tie or twist the ties to secure the lath to the armature. The clippers are used to cut the lath. 

The tools  

I use a hammer to manipulate the lath and to smash the sharp edges of the cut lath. The pliers are used to tie or twist the ties to secure the lath to the armature. The clippers are used to cut the lath. 

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Materials 

Small piece of cut lath and stainless steel wire.  

The Stainless steel is cut into small pieces that is used to tie the lath to the rebar. 

The Stainless steel is cut into small pieces that is used to tie the lath to the rebar. 

Lath tied down with small piece of stainless steel.  

Lath tied down with small piece of stainless steel.  

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The tie is clipped and the sharp end is folded under. 

 

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Lath ties to the rebar

“Score” #18 the lath

I know have supports on the ground and I am comfortable that the piece is not going to fall on me. In the end I may cut them off. Right now they stabilize the piece and they are not visually distracting to me. 

Now to start adding the lath.  

 

I started with the right arm and hand.  

I started with the right arm and hand. 

 

Jumping around I next added his right coat tail  then his left arm.  

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Left arm  

 

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Left back of his jacket  

 

1/16/2018

 

working on the folds in the fabric of the left pant leg. 

working on the folds in the fabric of the left pant leg. 

“score” #17 un doing

1/14/2018 

 

The rebar bar I attached to provide stability to the piece (so it will not fall on me) is visually distracting me. I anticipate the sound will engulf him from head to toe but it needs to start from the instrument and hands and then expand out. I just st can’t start from the outsideand work back to the instrument.  I am going to cut off the pieces I attached for stability and re attach them more discretely. 

 

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before Cutting off the distracting pieces. 

 

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The reattached pieces are flat on the ground and only in the direction I think it might fall. 

 

“Score” #16 making it safe


January 11, 2018

This winter has had many events. All good events that have distracted me from working on this piece.

Today, I get back to work. 

Step 1- Right now, I am welding on it in my garage home studio. However, I will need to be able to get it into the doors at my Glassell studio when it is completed. The widest door opening is 34” maximum. I can go wider, but the depth will have to be within 34”.

My second concern is stability. Right now, it is stable and balances on its own, even with the wooden violin in the proper position. The energy of the music will project primarily forward. Since it is steel and concrete, it will be very heavy and has to balanced, even if accidentally pushed from any side. So, before I can do anything else, I have to widen the base in order to make it safe.

It is raining today, so I will cut a bunch of random lengths, grind the ends to a point inside. When it stops raining, I will take them outside where I bend them.

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Rebar cut a variety of lengths.  

 

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On a grinding wheel I grind both ends of each piece into a point.

 

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I use this brace that is attached to the utility pole behind my garage to bend my rebar.  Sometimes I have the put all my weight on it to bend the  bar.  

I stick the rebar through the hole and bend it a little and keep sliding the bar and bending until I get a curve I like.  

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And some times I take it out and stick the other end through and then bend it again.  

 

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These are ar ready thank go.  

 

trying different ways to create a strong base  

trying different ways to create a strong base  

I use magnets to hold the rebar so I can stand back and look. These pieces are for stability but they can’t look like they ar for stability. If the position of the rebar works then I weld a tac to hold it so that I can then look at it without the red magnets. If I still like it I finish welding the two pieces securely.   

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The red magnet holds the rebar so I can step back.  

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These pieces are within the 34” and will keep the sculpture from falling forward if it is pushed from the back or from the weight I will be adding to the front. 

 

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I am feeling uncertain about what I am doing so I am going to stop for now so that I can look at it tomorrow with a fresh eye.