DIY Sculpture - sand sculpture
When I am on a sculpture project every daylight hour it usually taken up with me musing about the current piece I am working on. I really don't want to be thinking of the next one still to be done. Having usually a booked up season I will get emails from future projects asking me to send a sketch of what I am going to make. In general sketches are of no use to me because for me the sculpture is the actual sketch. I feel alot more confident working in 3D than 2D and to have to put pencil to paper feels like a chore. Also, trying to transfer a sketch into a sculpture is really a waste of time.
A sketch of an idea of a sketch
For this one in Valladolid, Spain they asked me to send a sketch of a sculpture and I sent them this. I had no intention of making it, I really just wanted them off my back knowing that when I finally arrived I would come up with something new and different.
The sculpture lovers among you may regognise it as 'Psyche revived by Cupid's kiss' by Antonia Canova. It is an amazing marble statue housed in the Louvre. I would have been pretty impressed with myself if I was to pull that off in sand let alone marble.
Having sent the image I could get my mind back to the piece I was working on at that time Irish Isles - sand sculpture . I really hate being distracted.
When I finally did arrive in Spain I was very annoyed that they had printed out a bit of a bio about me and my sketch was included on a sign beside where I was to work. I really hate this kind of thing I don't think the public should be given such a preview of what the pile of sand is to become. It takes away all the mystery and tries to hold me to a fixed design. I really had no intention of trying to make this and now I was in kind of a bind.
I had been in Valladolid twice before and was very happy to be back creating a new piece in the town square. Like previous years I was given a helper to assist me with the sculpture. Before It was helpful to have them just at the start for compacting a big block of sand but then for the rest of the time they were just happy to relax and watch me carve which was a bit intimidating. I felt like I had to entertain someone who was just there to collect a paycheck.
Divide and conquer
Then the idea hit me, I could kill two birds with the one stone by breaking the sculpture up into multiple parts like a big Lego set. For the audience, they would have to do a bit of work to put the whole thing together in their heads and for my helper I could teach him how to compact the first element and then as I carved that he could continue ahead of me and do each of the others. For me it was a stroke of genius, (if i do say so myself), it also gave me a bit of a challenge as I had to carve each element the same scale while not having an easy reference.
We started with the most massive parts and worked our way to the more delicate elements. The vibrations as my helper compacted could be felt through the sand pile and I was a bit wary of it collapsing what I had already finished.
Nippers
Deep in my work one day I looked up and was greeted by a crowd of naked people cycling around me on their bicycles. After I got over the shock and the ogling I realised it was a protest to ' Deliver a vision of a cleaner, safer, body-positive world'. It was quite a sight to see, People of all ages and genders occupying the square. It reminded me of that thing they say about public specking, that you should imagine the audience naked and then you would not be so self conscious. I wasn't self conscious at all but seeing the naked cycling around was very helpful.
As the more prudish among you will quickly notice I have not used the NSFW tag on this post even though there are some boodies. Well if it was safe enough for my place of work it should be for yours.
I was quite happy with what me and my helper achieved, sorry I can't remember his name these many years later. For him I could see that he took more ownership over the piece than the ones from previous years, I suppose having to be always useful to me during the project made him really get behind the idea and he helped with the overall composition.
Looking at it now I would really love to see the whole thing assembled as one piece but that was the audiences job.
I did loose one of the feet in a collapse but left it as it was, it added something to the idea, not sure what but something.
I hope you'll join me again soon
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Hi Daniel it was interesting to read your story, actually I saw first the sculpture and thought that it looks like the pieces that you should put together. Actually it could be in human nature when we see such things we automatically want to put together and see what will come out of it. Then reading the post it was clear. I can imagine how it is annoying to have such requests from organizer but from their side they probably thought that it would be helpful for people around, you know how people are they want to know in advance. The final result if your project looks very impressive and I can imagine while working and being concentrated you can't really pay attention to what is happening around but for the crowd that might be was an entertainment to see naked cyclists :)
I would have loved to see if the sculpture would all fit together but I do imagine the audience had fun trying to place all the parts in their mind.
For me the biggest problem with showing the audience what I am about to make before it is made is the fact that it takes away the audience interaction. I like when I'm asked what I am making and then I can enter into some sort of conversation with my viewers. These conversations can be very inspiring.
Thank you for your curation, it means alot to me.