All art flows from some conceptualization, of the world, of the self, of sensory experience, of conceived order, of life. Whatever. And there is some art where the physical work itself doesn’t always fully reveal the guiding concept. One must know something, if only a little, in order to know what one is seeing.
Consider this photograph of Neil Tetkowski’s Common Ground World Mandala:
Consider this photograph of Neil Tetkowski’s Common Ground World Mandala:
What are those numbers on those small billets of fired clay? The answer is simple: the numbers correspond to the member states of the United Nations. Thus 37 (front center) is Colombia, 158 (above it and to the left) is Spain, 13 is Bahrain (left of center, bottom) and so on.
Each of those billets is fired from clay gathered from the corresponding company:
At the center we have two hand prints:
The large print is from the hand of Mary Livornese Cavalieri, born in 1899 (that’s her hand in the photo), while the small print is from the hand of Kelly Rose Thom, born in 2000. These prints were made in the clay in April of 2000. Then, over a period of three weeks, individuals from the United Nations member countries placed the billets in spiral form about the center. After the matrix clay had dried, Tetkowski cut the Mandala into sections and fired each one. Each section was then affixed in place on a hemispherical aluminum substrate. The final mandala was displayed in the United Nations building in 2002:
It is eight feet in diameter and has a radiance that cannot be conveyed in any photograph. You have to see it to appreciate it.
Which you can do through 21 August at the hpgrp gallery in New York City, 529 West 20th Street.
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