"Adventure, as it skirts the unknown, can at times bring forth art."

There are many sculptors, past and present, who inspire me on a number of levels. I'm particularly drawn to those that work in steel or iron like me, of course. David Smith, Richard Serra, Anthony Caro, Mark di Suvero, Cordell Taylor, Sophia Pitakis, Bernar Venet, Beverly Pepper, Dave Malone, Melvin Edwards, Neil Hadlock, Alexander Calder, John Bisbee, Jin Man Jo, and on and on.

But this post is about Eduardo Chillida...

I didn't discover him or his incredible body of work until about 2001. But I made up for lost time, collecting all of the books and articles I could find. I haven't yet made a pilgrimage to San Sebastian, Spain to his museum but it's still on my list. Hopefully it will endure the current economic downturn. It would be a great loss to sculpture if it were to remain closed.

Anyway, here's a quote from Chillida that I've always found compelling and inspiring, especially the last line:

From Space with its brother Time,
under the pressing heaviness of gravity
feeling material as if it were a slower space
I ponder with amazement over my ignorance.
I work to know. I value learning over knowledge.
I believe I must venture into making what I know not;
Seek to visualize where I do not see;
Strive to recognize what I cannot discern;
Attempt to identify within the realm of the unknown.
Along the unfolding of these processes,
which resemble those of creation in science,
many hardships arise.
We have the hands of yesterday
but we lack those of tomorrow.
I have a conception of the work before I undertake it,
but I do not know,
nor do I want to know at the moment of creation,
how will it be.
I possess many facts about the work in which I am living,
but will not allow this knowledge
to inhibit my freedom nor the breath of the present.
I believe works conceived a priori are born dead.
Adventure, as it skirts the unknown,
can at times
bring forth art.

[bold text mine...]

Sadly (and much too early), Eduardo passed on at age 78 in August of 2002. I had just discovered him and then he was gone. I will never meet him now but would've liked to. He continues to inspire me...

11-11-11

One year and 11 days ago I had my first solo show—HyperObjects: Shards of the Eschaton. The show was held at the Cordell Taylor Gallery here in Salt Lake City and opened on a Friday night with a wonderfully auspicious date. (Another 1,000 years and we can do it all over again!)

HERE are some great shots of my work as documented by Shawn Rossiter's 15 Bytes. Thanks for the great article, Shawn and team! (Follow the link at the bottom of the 15 Bytes page to see the full review of my show and the photos mentioned above...)

Anyway, it was great turnout for the opening night and the interest continued for the full month the show was up. Cordell is a local metal sculptor of tremendous talent and it was an honor to be invited by him to show in his gallery last year.

And here are a couple of photos of opening night:

This is my Artist's Statement for the HyperObject show:

HyperObjects

Shards of the Eschaton

In the mid 70s I began making small drawings that seemed to arise spontaneously. For me they are a communication that I have been documenting with pen and paper for over 35 years—a communication that wants to be shared in steel.

Notes regarding a series of 23 steel sculptures that I would call HyperObjects began to appear in April of 2001. These objects would be sourced from my drawings and inspired by key concepts of Terence McKenna, especially those concerned with the Eschaton at the end of time that he believed was drawing mankind and history toward cataracts of transcendental change. I chose the name HyperObjects because it reflected his terminology for this “transcendental object” as well as my own experience in birthing these drawings from some kind of imagined hyperspace. They emerge during moments of reflection or anytime I am in a suitable frame of mind that seems to help me precipitate their concrescence.

All of my work is essentially an effort to recreate the Mystery in material form. My HyperObjects Series is specifically an attempt to accrete a group of unique pieces whose qualities reflect the Mystery for me—multi-dimensional, embedded, arcane, enfolded, enigmatic, patinated, archaic, alchemical, sacred and emergent…

—Randall Hankins, 2011