Fireside Manifesto #4

Friends,

In order to really understand Art, we have to talk briefly about the context in which Art exists-- culture.

Culture is a basic part of the human experience as social animals. Our culture organizes our world and gives us roles to play it. Some aspects of cultures seem to make people happier overall, and some make people less happy, but all cultures are internally logically consistent.

In all parts of the world, cultures are shared and passed down through stories. Not only fairy tales and children's books, but all forms of expression tell us stories in some way. What do friends do when they get together over beer or wine? They tell stories. What do we do when we go home and want to relax? We watch stories on TV, or read them in books, or experience them in video games. It is an important and fulfilling experience to connect with one another through our stories, and in doing so, we create, change and reinforce the concepts that our culture consists of.

Fireside Manifesto #3

Friends,

We didn't solve anything in the last post, but that's ok. Let's switch now from what Art is, to what Art does.

Art acts as a medium for expression. As in individual activity, it helps people understand themselves and the world. As a communal activity, it is a medium of communication. Just like any other form of communication, writing or speaking or body language, it can have a wide range of effects, and has its own strengths and weaknesses.

Eliciting a response is an important goal for a piece of artwork. Art can shock people, make them think, disgust them, and inspire them. Sometimes it makes people realize that there is beauty in the world, or reminds them of what is ugly. It can tell us stories. It can give us new perspectives. Sometimes, it tells us how we should live our lives. It can even change the way we think.

Fireside Manifesto #2

Friends,

First, let me mention that I can already tell that this discussion is going to take a long time. Please bear with me, everything I say is something that I think is important. If you have any thoughts along the way, please comment or let me know in some other way. And so we are off.

To begin, the first question that we have to ask is "What is Art?"

There are a hell of a lot of answers to this question. Some are thoughtful, some inspiring, some meaningful, some absurd, some limiting, and some abstruse. People talk about Art as Truth, or Beauty, or magic. About a year ago, I talked on this blog about Art as something that evokes a response, and something that helps the artist to understand themselves and the world. I've heard that Art is what Artists do, and also that Art is whatever Artists can get away with. Art is pretty much subjective, like what Potter Steward said about pornography-- it's difficult or impossible to define, "but I know it when I see it."

Personally, I think that this is my favorite quote on the subject:

"Art is anything you can do well. Anything you can do with Quality."

-Robert Pirsig

Fireside Manifesto #1

Good Evening, Friends,

Up to this point, I've been using SculptorbyDay to document my progress in artistic ability, and to share with my friends and family what I am working on. However, I've been told that, in order to get into a good grad school, I need to progress the conceptual side of my work as well as the skill-based side. I've thought a lot about art and symbolism and meaning, but I've never really had a clear direction or purpose of my own.

I was inspired to create this blog in the first place by my brother Noah, who uses "Its Computer Science Time" to get down his ideas, and to think through new and interesting concepts. My blog is going to start moving in that direction. There will be many more words than before, but I will try for concision and clarity. I'm excited-- I think this will be fun.

Be prepared, as you are about to be given a glimpse into the mind of Joel.

Behind the Scenes

I thought that it might be interesting to everyone to hear about what goes on behind the scenes here at SculptorbyDay studios. Over the past few years, and the past year in particular, I have assembled a large amount of art supplies and tools. The first picture is of the workspace in my room, where most of my work is done. The second is of my studio, which is another room in the basement. The third is of the tools that I use more than any others, by far. Not pictured is the workshop in my friend Chris's basement, where more major projects, like casting, take place.

It didn't really occur to me how extensive my collection was until a few days ago. I am lucky enough to have grown up in an artistic household, where a lot of tools were just lying around.

If anyone is interested, here are a few of the supplies and tools that I have bought, found, or been given: Plastilina, wax, Sculpey, blocks of wood, silicon, porcelain slip, resin, soapstone, alabaster, many types of wire, over 100 pounds of clay, saws, knives, pliers, wheel-throwing tools (wire tool, needle tool, bats, etc), wax-working tools, many brushes, sandpaper, custom-cut and polished granite, paints, hammer and chisels, files, glazes, drawing tablet, a Dremel, and a dozen kinds of adhesives.

Getting a Head of Ourselves

Lots of changes to her, beyond just adding the head. She still seems a bit off proportion. I'm thinking of abandoning my original plans for her, and taking her in a new direction. I'll post when I figure out what that direction is.

Mother and Child, 2.0

The last Mother and Child figurine was fine as a fine piece, but definitely had its issues. I have been working all week on this reproduction. This one has a lot more motion to it, and artistic license. Although the sculpey is nice in many ways, it has its weaknesses as well, and can be very frustrating. I was only able to get this far through perseverance- I had to remake the faces over and over before they looked acceptable, for instance.

Some Drawings

Here are a few more drawings that I've done with my drawing tablet. They are all from reference material, most notably Frank Teran's concept art for the video game Mushroom Men.

On another note, my benevolent patron has received his commissioned piece. Overall he seemed pretty happy about it, but had a few critiques. Most importantly, he was not entirely satisfied with the faces of the mother and child. I have to agree with his assessment. Overall, we both rated the piece a "B". Not bad for a first attempt at this kind of thing, and definitely plenty of room for improvement.

Its Computer Science Time! Again!

Its been almost exactly a year since my twin's last Guest Spot on SculptorbyDay. If you haven't seen his blog, its one of the links on the right side of the page. Check it out if you are ready to go down the rabbit's hole into a realm where Category Theory dominates, the Lambda Calculus confuses people into submission, and Turing Machines are wrecking havoc everywhere.

Like last time, this post has nothing at all to do with what Its Computer Science Time is about. Rather, my bro shows off his amazing pen trick skills. If you missed the first appearance (with a butterfly knife), you can find it here-

http://sculptorbyday.blogspot.com/2010/11/its-computer-science-time.html