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“The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover is yourself.” — Alan Alda
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There are no creative limits if you choose to use your opposable thumbs…
If you are not aware of the work by Allen and Patty Eckman, get ready to pick your jaw up off the floor. The two sculptures below are made entirely of paper.
On a less serious note, but just as jaw dropping, check out these carved pumpkins;
This pumpkin was carved to illustrate the sensation one experiences when seeing Fred’s Entertainment Center for the first, second and third time…
This pumpkin was carved by Fred West’s best friend. It describes Fred’s reaction after learning that he had to keep the Entertainment Center as part of a divorce settlement.
This is the only living critter that will help biodegrade Fred’s Entertainment Center.
Makes sense to me.
Carving into a pumpkin could be a great way to practice or develop a sculptural form prior to more difficult mediums. It never occurred to me and now you can never say that. Learn how here.
Happy Veteran’s Day to all the Drivel Starved Vets out there!
–John
The thing about those sculptures is not that they’re paper, it’s that they’re beautiful art. And they’re paper. I get annoyed sometimes when the medium gets in the way of the product. Here they mesh so well that the fact that they’re made of paper only enhances the visual/emotional experience.
Those pumpkins are really impressive. As for practicing sculpture on different media, isn’t that what bars of soap are for? That’s what we all did in elementary school. Pity the poor children who grew up on liquid soap. It’s so much more difficult to carve. What will the youth of today learn to sculpt on? Cheese?
– Peter
@Peter;
You bring up good, and obvious points. Sculptures of this quality are not common in paper–they have sold millions of dollars of these beautiful creations, and it is significant not only in their singular beauty but the medium is such a rich surprise…and that makes it special. Clearly, they have a gift and passion that most of us can only envy. The fact that their work resonates with others is equally inspiring–for a completely different set of reasons.
Similarly, seeing a clock, or any mechanism where the gears are all cut from glass is equally counter-intuitive and equally inspiring. The point of sharing work like this is to shake “conventions” and open minds. And opening minds in the avocational woodworking arena is WAY HARDER than one might imagine… I don’t know who said this, but I remember reading it, “you can’t improve upon the 18th century”. WHAT?
The pumpkins are poignant not only because they are inspiring, but also because it is a familiar medium which the vast majority have not explored to the fullest–me included. This effort clearly bumped my vector and I am happy to point to the “HOW” for those who are interested.
Cheese works. Soap too. Pumpkins are just bigger. Styrofoam is likely next but not organic. A really big, slow moving cow is organic, but PETA…
–John
A feature at many state fairs, including the PA Farm Show, is a life-scale butter sculpture:
http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&q=pennsylvania%20farm%20show%20butter%20sculpture&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&biw=1017&bih=467
My favorite was the Ben Franklin inspecting the Liberty Bell.