Zag

[evaldart]

Okay, I'm gonna document the making of this larger piece from start to finish. Heres the beginning...scribbles on the chalkboard as I siz-up whats available in the boneyard. It likely wont look too much like this raw sketch...but its how things get moving. I imagine it will be ready to show this summer if anyone will have it.

[chris 71]

cant wait to see the process matt. get your son to take some pics of you in action like you did in your portal wip. that would be cool. like the chulk board idea. i have just started drawing a bit before i carve. after the longest time resisting doing it. but i can now say that it can be a good idea.

[evaldart]

Progress has slowed as I have indecision about the use of some scrap that was painted red (that heavy-duty skin of a playground coating). It is great stock for the sculpture but the color might provide for undesirable visual distraction. Been considering either burning it off or hoping I can ignore it and just move forward (or perhaps wait til I salvage some appropriate lengths of unpainted steel...which brings the element of luck into the mix). So sessions of "go-time" have yet to begin. The chalk drawing has been washed away, further yet predicting that the piece will move in a different direction.

[jOe~]

considering either burning it off or hoping I can ignore it

5 minute paint remover. Its worth the $7-8.

[GlennT]

Or sandblasting? Might come up with an interesting surface with it partially or mostly blasted. Won't help the composition though. More is needed there.

[grommet]

Originally Posted by GlennT

Won't help the composition though. More is needed there.

Are you saying the chalk drawing doesn't spark for you?
I'm liking it. It's a conversation starter at the very least. You know, if it came to life right now, what sound effect would it make?
It has strength & the self absorbed energy of a 9 year old or an artist. Good stuff.
Now go make it. Use the red stuff & don't worry about the paint. Would the 9 year old care, or would it just become part of the source of energy?

[evaldart]

"Just make it" sounds like good advice. Thanks G.

[Giotto]

I'm happy your doing this and I wish more of you would take us through your process from beginning to end. I think the process is a art form in itself.

Ev
What I would like to know is what initiated this piece. A dream, vision ? beer ? How was it you decided on this and what influenced you. How about a picture of the bone yard.

For those of you interested I am also doing this on my Facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Denis-...791293?created

G

[evaldart]

As with every sculpture I make, even my figurative ones, this piece came about by a physical need to act upon an impulse caused by something the compositional sensibility identified amongst the piles of matter that I have at my disposal. The size of red poles determined the scale, and the additional elements, the "filling out" of it will occur quite spontaneously as the challenge of the process attempts to define boundaries (which I will attempt NOT to surrender-to). In the end, this event will hopefully have defied expectations and improved my relationship with the haze-like matter as well as my relationship with the matter-like haze. More intersting thoughts/feelings all round.

Updated pic of the boneyard, comin up.

[Biomorph]

You've started something here that is interesting and could be enlightening. I'm with Giotto; we want more. The sketch---did it come before the boneyard thoughts, or were you really trying to find places for rusty pieces? Maybe you can't put a priority. Tell us. I'm also with Grommet; why have you destroyed the sketch? It's too late now to say "just do it". Once you start disrobing, the customers will begin stomping on the floor if you stop.

[evaldart]

I did exactly this already with my David piece a year ago.

The rain washed away the sketch. The mental arranging whilst lazing in the bone-yard is where it all comes from (and yes, mental arranging IS lazing...all fantasy and most of it isnt worth "becoming"). It gets tied to reality later, by processes.

Boneyard shots from today on a rainy tuesday afternoon.

the third shot is the secondary boneyards of materials that are somewhat slated for art. They are the snobby bits (the already chosen).

I prefer to hang with the others, those pieces of debris that still recall their previous life - and regard me, in their supposed retirement and disrepair, with a gullible pride (they cannot imagine what I might have planned for some of them).

[grommet]

I'm also with Grommet; why have you destroyed the sketch?

my comment about the chalk drawing was directed to glenn. I assumed things when i saw the chalkboard's outdoorness and the "washed away" as opposed to "washed off" or erased.

[The Forge]

Why that sketch looks like the sculpture that I just completed.

[GlennT]

When I looked at the your boneyard pile, "pirate ship" came to mind, although that might have too much narrative for your tastes. Still, I think you could use one, especially if it were on wheels so you could use it as your vehicle of choice for scrapyard forays.

[robertpulley]

I see neighbors! I hope they are tolerant of the boneyard. I like to see the studios and processes of other artists, but after seeing the beginning of this thread and Giotto's Facebook Fan page (which relates to another thread of a little while back) I'm getting a little anxious about what all this transparency means. Does it lead to deeper appreciation of the art? Is it a story? Is it enabling the younger folks? Does it extend what art is? Does it remove mystery or ...? I think the basis of this is superstition I have held since childhood that divulging plans too early somehow sucks energy from the work.
Just thinking out loud and wondering how deep into this process I want to plunge (I do have a regular Facebook page about which I have conflicting notions).

[evaldart]

As long as the, artist is sufficiently fortified (confidence) and the actual undertaking of the work is unencumbered by the distraction of any audience or scrutinizers, then there can be no damage done by the mere talk of plans and wishes. And "mystery" is a thing to be offered-up on a second-tier level to folks afterwards (if it matters to you to be mesmerizing) - not a thing that is experienced by the artist during his process. And the best thing about artmaking is that plans change all the time. The things discussed prior-to (and between episodes) of the throes of the creative act are all good for stimulating banter (the mind doesnt rest).

[jOe~]

Does it extend what art is? Does it remove mystery or ...? I think the basis of this is superstition I have held since childhood that divulging plans too early somehow sucks energy from the work.

I think Evaldart's replies to all the questions are as good as they get when it comes to knowing your practice, your job, or as a neighbor recently said "its what you do". And what he does he does with, and because of, confidence and focus, the result of doing and learning. The rest is just effort, and the discipline of knowing how to fuel it and always setting it free. Its a path you can't learn in school. Samurai art.

[StevenW]

I never saw the chair with the metal wheels on it before that looks like a baby carriage built for a robot. I wonder if robots have baby carriages.

The documenting of a million mental WIPS is to be held in high regard as it de-hyperbolates the artifact and gets us closer to the Art. Just my opinion...

[Giotto]

Ev,
After your gone your bone pile will be declared a historical monument. Devotees will travel thousands of mile to pay homage, angles will sing and lesser artists will be thrown in to despair. I for one intend to go back and work on my man cave...I have some catching up to do...

G

[evaldart]

So the early episodes have happened. Its at about 13 feet tall (on its way to 20 plus). Should finish it in a couple months alongside the normal pandemonium of a life in the studio.
The scaffolding will be set up today.

[jOe~]

Hmmm. That is gonna be a fun lightening rod to move.

[grommet]

dang cool...

[evaldart]

I cant allow myself to think about moving it, because that day always comes. Were I to give that any thought right now it might taint some decisions. Certainly there are methods of making this an easier install that would diminish the sculpture terribly. More gear and bigger trucks are ever on the horizon.

[StevenW]

The big one is a must-ness and cannot be concerned with instrumentality such as a means to deliver or arrive. It simply must.

[evaldart]

Linear infrastructure accomplished. 21 feet high now at the tippy thin. Time to begin to compose mass and volume through additive manualities. In other words, the pain starts now.