A note from Mick about his sculptures
Only three of the sculptures pictured still remain from the historic
pages - Satchmo, Mask of Confidence and Does Grey Matter?
Some were sold, others destroyed or left with friends that I've
since lost contact with. I learnt, over the years, not to allow
myself to become too attached to any completed work and thereby
continuously move forward and on to the next project. Musically
also, rarely listening to anything recorded once released.
There was a definite change in style when I stopped using self-hardening
clay in the mid. 80's and began sculpting with more conventional
clay. Finding it much more malleable, the pieces could be worked
on a larger scale and needn't be focused, as was the case previously,
on small detail.
Journalists often look for ways to tie music and sculpture together
but I believe similarities exist only in their shared vocabulary,
for example both are constructed, built upon and shaped etc. For
me, their connection is that they are completely opposed to each
other ..... with one exception.
Music is non-visual, ephemeral, cannot be touched or weighed,
in contrast sculptures are solid, 3-dimensional and so both coexist
and creatively compliment each other.
The exception and their only true connection is time.
All art, even the disposable art of Andy Warhol is, in one way
or another, a statement about time.
Music has a mysterious relationship with time.
Essential while writing, It's the most important foundation that
music is built upon and measured by and yet music enables us to
lose all sense of time as a listener, only becoming aware of it
when music stops. During a short interval between pieces, we are
acutely aware of time as we wait for it to restart but oblivious
to how long has passed when enjoying a piece.
Sculpture defies time. A piece of bronze will outlive all of us
and stretch far into the future.
Capturing a sensuous curve or texture that will last much longer
than any artists senses. The strong desire to re-create or interpret
such visual stimulation is the motivating force and the hope of
standing the test of time the artists goal.
Unlike music, the older a piece of visual art, the more valuable
it becomes.
Perhaps reminding us of our own mortality, we wonder at how cavemen
could possibly create beautiful objects. Objects that time has
made priceless.
MK. |