"Art is a jealous mistress; and if a man have a genius for painting, poetry, music, architecture or philosophy, he makes a bad husband and an ill provider."
 
Ralph Waldo Emerson, U.S. Poet, essayist and transcendentalist (1803-1882)
 
 

if uncertainty is the most precious thing in life, then i am going through a very precious faze. its odd how doubt creeps in, and shakes the ground on which i seemed so sure.

reduction in form is not reduction in content.

the recent review illustrated quite clearly my lack of stability on where i am and what i'm doing. this must be reconfirmed.

comment was made that although individually the objects i am making might be beautiful, the curation of the work did not reinforce this. i think this can also be said for much of my past work. the making of architecture is the curation of public space, often placing objects within an existing fabric. i would argue that responding appropriately to context is one of the most difficult tasks of the architect. the real impact will always be speculative until completion, when the work then will exist, but still within an environment in constant flux. i suppose this is the challange of translation: from conception to realisation. one of the issues in the work i have been creating is that it is without context. transporting this work from the safety of the protective studio environment, to a 'real' place, will bring new challenges.

i intend to use the site of the vulcan works, perth, to site pieces directly related to the place, and to the notion of beauty and the process of making. in the back of my mind i have considered how a process of physically engaging with a site on a purely aesthetic level, ie negating programme and brief, could become the first step in the design process, where the creation of beauty is a central concern.

beauty in imperfection:

my work has a very personal aspect, which i have always thought of as its strength, however it may have become a weakness. "are you afraid of this?" why am i scared? i think there is a tentative feel about some of the things i create which is most deffinately limiting. the fear of the average, and the fear of losing control.

if beauty is in the imperfections, or perhaps the approximation of perfection, then i am the main source of imperfection in the work. how can i utilise this further? how can i inhabit the work further? i dont think that this is about a conscious attempt to create imperfections, but it does relate to the passion i have for the hand made, 'the touch of man'.

why the cube?

it seems to me very natural to arrive here. the cube is a universal form. in some way i think it is symbolic of the ideal- a stiving for perfection and beauty which seem just out of reach, or of some other realm [plato]. further to this the cube is a form which may have very little abstraction. removing the aspect of representation, ie an abstraction of something else, the cube exists in its own right [although i am aware that now this form does reference some 20th century work of minimalism and abstract expressionism.] one person commented that the cube is cold- perhaps i have become institutionalised in my realm of the cube, but i disagree. however on reflection, i wonder whether it is exactly the imperfect nature of the pieces i have made which i find captivating. would i feel the same way about a machined form?

where is the content?

the search is what everyone would undertake if he were not stuck in the everydayness of his own life.

to be aware of the possibility of the search is to be onto something.

not to be onto something is to be in despair.

 walker percy

"this consequence brings us, in a future perhaps remote, towards the end of art as a thing

separated from our surrounding environment,

which is this plastic reality.

but this end is at the same time a new beginning.

art will not only continue but will realise itself more and more.

by the unification of architecture, sculpture, painting,

a new plasic reality will be created. painting and sculpture

will not manifest themselves as separate objects,

nor as "mural art" which destroys architecture itself,

nor as "applied" art, but being purely constructive

will aid the creation of a surrounding not merely utilitarian or rational

but also pure and complete in its beauty."

piet mondrian

"quantities are no more real than qualities
 intellect is no more true than feelings
 truth is no greater an aspiration than beauty"


 robert irwin

on donald judd

"material beauty and impeccable perfection in construction and execution amount to much more than indulgence in pleasure. his notorious diatribes against museaums that allow work to get damaged or destroyed through improper handling, point to what i believe to be a moral conviction: beauty and perfection are ultimately matters of dignity, not only of the artwork but of nature and culture in general. beauty is a very special and noble state. beauty is the condition that makes the artwork rare and special, distiguishing it from ordinary objects and utensils[...] like the right to liberty and the pursuit of happiness, people have a right to things beautiful, pleasant and as well-made as possible. art demonstrates that beauty."

rudi fuchs

essence . reduction . en . theme . variation

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