Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Cast in Stone



Body

cement and vinyl tube


Many people advised me not to use 'Under Construction' as part of my title.  I realize the connection to sites that are not finished or are being rebuilt.  I've never been good at taking advice.  I started as a sculptor, so some things were set in stone - once upon a time. Now that I work in the digital world; things are always in play and always under construction.  I've worked Rusi again and again for several nights and below is a screen shot where I have left him.  He is still under construction until I capture the original magical feeling of seeing a Nang performance.

Rusi Under Construction

This sample is how I have worked Rusi in the last several days.   I'm not sure I'm in the right direction yet, I'm trying to stay true to the Nang tradition.  Much of my work involves placing myself into mythologies, either traditional or of my own making.  Rusi, I'm afraid is still under construction.   Also, I'm under the influence of a recent book - 'Practicing" by Glenn Kurtz; a story of a supercharged young prodigy in classical guitar. He became disillusioned even after many youthful successes.  A story that mirrors my own return to art - That it's mere practice is uplifting.  Most of us in the arts have second or multiple careers.  Kurtz puts into word the reflection many of us have at the point when the years of sacrifice have gained little audience. The key is that art needs to be collected by all who hold art dear.  My friend Sarah has a great essay on her website The Emergence Project. There are two links to Sarah in favorites.  Her Visual Influences also features two of my art works as a mail art project.

5 comments:

IAN said...

If the cement and vinyl tube was sized to fit on a cd cover and the floor was cut it would be really cool. Also can't you think of a better name?

Anonymous said...

I agree with Ian (though I think the name is fine). You better check my blog...

IAN said...

about rusi under construction i like it but i dont understand why you are using the same material on the right side of this piece. (the dr strange piece is good by itself and i dont know if i like it mixed in with this piece)Maybe it can work using something like les claypool's song "Shadow of a Man" as an inspiration point

William Evertson said...

I do tend to recycle images, especially in the pieces that involve mythologies. The mythologies are sometimes imagined or in the case of Rusi, a traditional Thai morality play. I think I experiment this way because some images seem to represent emotional archetypes. The self portrait on the right is symbolic to me as despair, self doubt or some type of sad realization. As I work through this piece I have to decide what emotion meeting the hermit who knows everything about you would bring on. I'll have to post the Dr. Strange soon for more comparison.

William Evertson said...

Full disclosure - Ian is my son, a great bass player in his last year at Berklee College of Music. That being said, I don't agree. "Shadow of a Man" is the tragic story of a returning Vietnam war vet. I'm sure I don't want to go back to relive that era, besides since I was part of the anti-war effort when I meet Rusi -Oh perhaps my narrative could have been different. Maybe I see your point. I did find a youtube version of a live performance where the stage lighting gives me some ideas. OK thanks for driving me more deeply into this piece.