Giacometti
The lesson I believe that was taught to us by Giacometti, I will attempt to state in simple terms and as clearly as I can. It is based on the idea of space again. In this case however, with Giacometti, he is not expecting the space or the air within that space to do anything in the way of movement that will effect that sculpture which we are viewing.
In Giacometti's case you might say it is the opposite of movement.
It is stillness. A profound sense of stillness which imbues the subject
with a spiritual quality.A quality which we believe he achieves by his intense
focus on the space in which he himself is immersed and into which he places his subject, the figure. Giacometti is an architect of space. Space is what he is always restling with. He has experimented tirelessly with his figures in different sizes, in different positioning and in dramatic scale juxtapositions. Whether we are viewing his drawings, his paintings, or the sculptures themselves, we always feel this tremendous tension created by his unique vision of space, and how he dramatizes it. As an artist dedicated to the mission of elevating his art to its loftiest position, he struggled with space and its representation as the first principle of his personal art. He travelled on the same path as did Cezanne, who was known to be his guiding star.
In the year 1950, while I was in Rome, Italy, on my own path of study,
I had occassion to attend the Venice Biennale in the company of the Italian
sculptor Pericle Fazzini with whom I was working as a paid assistant.
He was there in Venice as one of the judges, and I was part of his entourage.
It was at this time and during that event that I had the most awakening experience
of my stay in Italy. To have seen the beautiful Giacometti painting of a
single figure on view at this Venice biennale. I realized immediately that Giacometti was painting the space around the figure, with the same intensity as he painted the figure
itself, and that by so doing he was showing that it was the space that surrounded
the figure that was being handled as the main subject, andthat the figure
itself was of a secondary importance. This principle clearly explained to me, and made me feel that this is the way he approached all of his work. My feeling was that his vibrations of space,
came more from the cubicle of space which he was immersed in along with his
subject, than from the subject itsellf- OR to put it another way; the
subject and the space around the subject were one and the same. If we think of the space which exists in the phenomena of our existence as spiritual, and that the subject which exists in space, such as the figure of a person or a dog as material- then we can see how the more in our depiction of the material subject we attempt to show the subject's identity with the space which surrounds him or it, the more then, that subject will assume and absorb a spiritual essence.
Vincent Pepi, Jan.25,2007
Alberto Giacometti.Swiss, 1901 - 1966. Walking Man II, 1960
bronze, 188.5 x 27.9 x 110.7 cm (74 1/4 x 11 x 43 5/8 in.)
bronze, 188.5 x 27.9 x 110.7 cm (74 1/4 x 11 x 43 5/8 in.)
In Giacometti's case you might say it is the opposite of movement.
It is stillness. A profound sense of stillness which imbues the subject
with a spiritual quality.A quality which we believe he achieves by his intense
focus on the space in which he himself is immersed and into which he places his subject, the figure. Giacometti is an architect of space. Space is what he is always restling with. He has experimented tirelessly with his figures in different sizes, in different positioning and in dramatic scale juxtapositions. Whether we are viewing his drawings, his paintings, or the sculptures themselves, we always feel this tremendous tension created by his unique vision of space, and how he dramatizes it. As an artist dedicated to the mission of elevating his art to its loftiest position, he struggled with space and its representation as the first principle of his personal art. He travelled on the same path as did Cezanne, who was known to be his guiding star.
In the year 1950, while I was in Rome, Italy, on my own path of study,
I had occassion to attend the Venice Biennale in the company of the Italian
sculptor Pericle Fazzini with whom I was working as a paid assistant.
He was there in Venice as one of the judges, and I was part of his entourage.
It was at this time and during that event that I had the most awakening experience
of my stay in Italy. To have seen the beautiful Giacometti painting of a
single figure on view at this Venice biennale. I realized immediately that Giacometti was painting the space around the figure, with the same intensity as he painted the figure
itself, and that by so doing he was showing that it was the space that surrounded
the figure that was being handled as the main subject, andthat the figure
itself was of a secondary importance. This principle clearly explained to me, and made me feel that this is the way he approached all of his work. My feeling was that his vibrations of space,
came more from the cubicle of space which he was immersed in along with his
subject, than from the subject itsellf- OR to put it another way; the
subject and the space around the subject were one and the same. If we think of the space which exists in the phenomena of our existence as spiritual, and that the subject which exists in space, such as the figure of a person or a dog as material- then we can see how the more in our depiction of the material subject we attempt to show the subject's identity with the space which surrounds him or it, the more then, that subject will assume and absorb a spiritual essence.
Vincent Pepi, Jan.25,2007
posted by VPepi at 12:51 PM
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