NP: Why are you happy?
JB: Because peace can be achieved. And it arises within me first.
It is internal, this process. Consider a sculpture. Perfectly smooth, masterfully designed and painstakingly moulded. The figure may sit or stand; the artist may pay tribute to similar styles of their era or subvert these traditions. They may have to create something based on art show entry or a museum display. When does it stop becoming the artists work and become the audience’s reaction?
What will the focus be? Will it be an exploration of a concept? Will it be a dissection of a certain style? Consider the consequences of this work. Do they matter?
It may have taken years to think of the concept. The base has to be carefully considered according to its display. Will it be clay? Or bronze? Metal perhaps? Wax may work. It may have to be protected from the elements. Perhaps it will be encased in glass, subject to public opinion. Which base is best? Clay is sturdier but bronze is more delicate. Metal is more modern but wax withstands, wax is traditional.
The sculpture could be a woman or a man. Will it be composed in accordance to its gender? The male may be moulded in a dominant pose and painted in darker colours. The female in a gentler pose, upright, or her legs crossed perhaps. The sculpture may be based on previous works the artist has seen or accepted as a popular work. This is the artist’s discretion.
Combine these factors. Work for weeks, months or years, meticulously contributing to the final work. Invest your time, your money and your relationships in pursuit of this perfect ideal. Build it up, absorb every inspiration, every source of influence. Spend sleepless nights staring, observing the way it makes you feel, the minor flaw only you can see. Dream of it. Dedicate your life to it.
Then shatter it. Start again.
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