The urns are made from a conglomeration of clays of different colours, formed around a "nucleus" and dampened into a block 25-40 cm in size. After firing, the blocks are divided in the middle with a hammer and chisel,exposing the empty nucleus within.
He says: "I imagine them all together in a space in nature, as if from an ongoing archaeological excavation"; his ambition for them is "to make you disregard beauty and give meaning to life."He spent two years making a monument against fascism - Als Vencuts - commissioned by the town of Olot, in Catalonia, from 15 tonnes of clay - the block is 6 feet high. Before leaving the gallery I skimmed through the book about its making - the clay needed to be kept frozen while it was being worked, and then the structure used for freezing was turned into the kiln. Freezing and shattering form blocks of dense, massed forms. Firing was a technical achievement and everyone was relieved when it actually worked! See many photos of the various stages here.
A 2003 article discusses his statement that "each piece is a silence". The author concludes that there is a need to contextualise the work of silent makers, although their silence can itself provide a context [this serendipitously feeds into my current essay topic, on context]. Some thoughts are offered concerning the silent presences of natural objects such as stones, rocks and mountains and how these might affect us, drawing comparison between Casanovas' Blocks (see one below) and Chinese Scholars' Rocks.
Textile artist Sew Lawty finds "raw physicality and yet stillness in his work - read more of her thoughts on it here.
He has also made etchings - this one is 60cm wide, others are up to 2m wide -
Etching plus block, from a show in Denmark -
1 comment:
This is fascinating, thanks. It's too late for me now as I am on my way to bed, but I shall chase up your links tomorrow.
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