Scu pture: the Form and Method
Of the Many Arts, it is Probably Least Accepted
and Least Understood in the United States
'tBy DAVID GUILAUME
THE AMERICAN people have a or anyone who did not do or make gross telling of a tale, a literary
strange and traditional dis- something. notion translated (usually badly)
'trust of their senses. While leisure is a sought after into a three dimensional state-
The American ethic has found entity, it is desired in order to do ment. The content or idea must
nhe Latin delight in the good something with it. Even today we include also the quality of its -
things of this world intriguing and justify leisure by filling it with treatment by the artist in the
titivating, but not quite nice. To "good" and "improving" activi- terms of his materials.
a degree this attitude towards ties: we find it difficult to savor '
the flesh and its comforts is things in, of, and for themselves. HE ARTIST is interested in a
changing. Americans are begin- However, as we become more making some statement or '
ning to find that there is a dif- aware of, and accepting of, our comment about the world, and in '-
ference between sensuous and emotional and intellectual aspects, communicating this through his
sensual, and that it is possible to and realize the importance of these mnedium and craft.
revel in the pleasures of this world somewhat indefinable, difficult-to- In order to do this he must have
without being depraved libertines. measure components of our make I o to d ti he the
without . up, we are also beginning to more a control and sensitivity f or the
As a society, we are even coming , reely nd cheerfully tppreia materials and techniques of fab-
to enjoy the arts without having reatan chrflyappreciae rication he has chosen to objecti-
the arts.
feelings of uneasy duty underlaid fy his commentary; he must have
with a vague sense that there is F THE many arts, that of an understanding of the subject f r
something morally dubious about s sthe has chosen and of the values
the whole thing. While we have sculpture is p nde leasd i and perceptions of the audience
catered to our grosser senses for America. to whom the expression is di- Alexander Caler "Whae"
some time-note the development Brectd and he must be able to
Amrc.rse;adh utb bet lxne adrsBasically sculpture, as any other
of overstuffed furniture and the synthesize these various elements mentary on man's inhumanity to tention to the beauty of the ma-
art form, is designed to be a de- mnayo asihmnt otnint h euyo h a
baroque opulence of automobile in- into a complete, aesthetic form. man, one viewer may be more con- terial. For the viewer to take ex-
terirsor he rgie ofeatnglight to some several of the senses
-visual, tactile, emotional, intel- The beholder may not under- cerned with the design qualities, ception with this is as senseless as
drinking, and smoking indulged in lectual among others. (In speak- stand completley, or in the same another may be contemptuous of being angry that one sees only
by Americans-we ale mst ing of the senses in this connota- way, what the artist has said, any the manipulation of the material, blue birds when one had hoped to
maintained that visually we must tion one wants to include the end- more than the student under- and another may be completely see robins, or blaming a dog for
starve ourselves, that emotionally less emotional senses such as sense stands the teacher, or one per- bemused with thoughts of the his- not being human,
we must repress ourselves. of propriety, accomplishment, son understands another who toric or monetary value of the --- - ----
well-being and so on, not just the comes from a different back- work,
AMERICANS HAVE also had usual 'five). ground of values and ideologies. Often, the beholder is looking
strong convictions concerning A sculpture, whether it be a low for something which does not ex-
'utility and function, have been relief, almost two dimensional, or IN THE SAME way, a tree is ist in the work. Perhaps he is
leary and censorious of anything free standing (or, recently, free viewed by a lumberman, a land- looking for a story (Little Girl o
hanging), is primarily concerned scape gardener, a poet, a painter, saved by Noble Canine), while
David Guillaume taught art with appealing to the beholders' someone seeking shelter from sun the sculpture is presenting some
education in the architecture senses on any of several levels. or rain, very differently. ideas on the relationships of ashbul L
college. He discussed the art. The most obvious appeal for Each has his particular needs shapes and textures in space. FlashD UbS
ist's role in society in a Daily many people is the idea or story and notions of how the tree can or The viewer may be looking for a
Magazine article last fall. I suggested or commented on. By cannot meet them. While the ar- discussion of the human body and
"story" is not meant simply the tist may be making some com- the sculptor may be inviting at- needed
A Million Saturday Nights
(Continted from Page 6) OTHER factors, of course, have ; turn one's back on intelligence.
sheathed and slithering heroine, is been blamed for the state of This self-conscious shrug of the
she a graceless lass? Give her a the movies. shoulders is not an act of stupid-
clever arpeggio, then, just to make Sam Goldwyn was accusing the ity, it is rather a specific feeling,
her persuasive. If music is to be censors when he admitted "we a sense, and not a happy one,
used in this manner, as a enor- d t to it
n wind up with a lot of empty little SIXTY YEARS, then, of cinema,'
moos cutch, then the arm of a wnu i ao ep
healthy body should be used as a fairy tales that do not have much and what has finally emerged?
crutch, relation to anything." And ever The moving pictures began as an
since 1916 when the courts pro- inventor's playground of ingenious
THE REAL difficulty with a since 1916 when celluloid snippets.
"bad" movie is that we can- claimed that the movies were en- The giant toy became a great
tertainment, not an organ of pub-intuetadocsnlywud
not see it whole. The pot pourri of lic opinion, the movies have been instrument and occasionally would
cinema can only exist if it be- subject to sometimes-hampering te a storym topeople insteadof re-
come a niqu inegrtionwit cenorsip.citing a myth to children. The
comes a unique integration with censorship, mechanical nature of the art be-
each of its aspects surrendered to Similarly the star system has came explicable and controlable.
the whole. been attacked from within the After the first few years no direr-
The symbols of the screen, the industry. tor asked for or needed technical
variety of visual units, must be The first star was one Florence innovations; these have all come
easily recognizable in their basic Lawrence. She was hired by pro- as a result of commercial needs,
design: we cannot turn back a ducer Carl Laemmle at an exorbi- never as part of the movie's es-
few reels to check what has hap- tant salary and immediately an- sential growth,
pened before. Finally it must be nounced to the newspapers as Through sixty years a hundred
an active art, if only because the dead. The next day Laemmle fashions have been built and
eye is such a lively and nervous charged his competitors with in- scrapped but a tradition has failed
organ. But it is one art, a pat- venting the story to deprive him to emerge. The movies today, even
tern of purpose and rhythm, unit- of his most valuable actress-and the bad ones, are oddly effective
ing as cinema. so the public had found a mem-
Consistently, though, we are orable heroine,
faced with the gulf between what But all this can be traced back
they can do and what they have to the cost of production. A novel For the CLASSIC
done. When we look to the cre- can be written for the price of
ators and perpetuators of this art paper but a movie must command
the first thing we sense is a feel- a large audience. Most of the sores Complete selection of
ing of dissatisfaction and oppres- that oppress Hollywood are the
sion. Unlike the impulsive child of result of one thing-the simple performed by the wo
a progressive school the movies expensiveness,
have never been allowed to choose it is this that has led to the
their own way. Rather they have self-disparagement of the industry, We stock many of Gle
always been dictated by that the restless dissatisfaction and
sternest of fathers - commercial- often irresponsible attitude. It
ism, takes a good deal of cleverness to
ALBERT WEBER
PAINT INGS and DRAWINGS
Coning May 11-20; CHARLES CULVER SI M
FORSYTHE GALLERY for the Finest in
201 NICKELS ARCADE Over the Post Office
SUNDAY, MAY 3, 1959
in conveying emotion, if not rea-
son.
Generally, this works, because
an audience has been dulled to
passive receptiveness. The audi-
ence is relatively as young as the
cinema itself. In an atmosphere of
dark, anonymous warmth and re-
laxed enjoyment, it is difficult to
feel responsible.
BUT A WORLD that takes itself
seriously cannot ignore the
motion pictmes.
When they succeed, the im-
mediate experience of the thing
observed, the sensuous imagery
and quickness are not easily erased
from our minds. What is needed
now is vitality and courage rather
than new techniques and material.
As always the movies are in a
state of transition rather than
tradition. A great art can at last
solidly emerge; or the aimless path
of the past can be perpetuated. To
this we can only say, God Forbid
tmo-aanduvst.
AL MUSIC LOVER,
f your favorite pieces,
irld's foremost artists,
enn Gould's recordings.
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