Spirit of Life by Helaine Blumenfeld

"In working on a public sculpture, I am always aware of the importance of creating a piece that extends beyond language, beyond literal interpretation, which encourages the public to discover many levels of meaning. The initial small model for Spirit of Life evoked very strong reactions. The varied responses I had to it truly empowered me.
Many of the complex strands of meaning that inspired me when I created the model seemed to resonate in these multiple interpretations: Some saw it as an angel with its wings spread open, others as a tree of life - its branches reaching towards a spiritual dimension; while some viewed it as hands reaching out in hope. But everyone recognized that this sculpture is about the healing power of beauty,of hope and of creation and, above all, about The Spirit of Life."
The upward surge of Spirit of Life creates an immediately positive mood in this powerful yet vulnerable sculpture. Its soft folds temper the solidity of the marble, creating a light and flowing texture across its smooth lines.
Reminiscent of a new shoot or bursting flower bud, Spirit of Life imbues the marble with a sense of animation. Its towering height deifies it, reminding one of dryads or fertility goddesses. At the same time, its abstracted form resists any figurative interpretation, rendering it a true spirit; the notion, idea or concept brought into three-dimensions by Blumenfeld's aptitude for delicate organic structure. It soars, spreads, reaches to the sky and opens to the sun, giver of all life on earth. This is an abundant and undaunted presence, not just striving for survival but revelling in the experiences it encounters.
This vivacity suggests the joy of spring and unfurling leaves; seeds bursting into life beneath the soil and reaching their shoots up towards the sun, nourishment and their first taste of life. It stands as a monument to the miracle of all life and reveals the beauty of nature and the power of the spirit.

Bent of Mind by Tony Cragg

Tony Cragg was born in Liverpool in 1949. He worked as a laboratory technician at the Natural Rubber Producers Research Association (1966-68) before attending Gloucestershire College of Art and Design, Cheltenham College, and the Royal College of Art, London (1973-77). Tony Cragg has lived and worked in Wuppertal, Germany, since 1977.

Bent of Mind wrestles with, as Cragg puts it, "man's relationship with his environment" and operates as a complex, three-way conversation between "material, object and image (providing) seemingly endless possibilities of form and meaning." The sculpture seems to be in the process of metamorphosis, as if changing from one form into another, thus confronting the broader idea of evolution itself. Cragg has always believed that making and viewing sculpture offers essential ways of knowing and understanding. Before turning to art, Cragg worked as a technician in a biochemistry laboratory, the Natural Rubber Producers Research Association. His scientific and technological background informs his work to this day. Just like Quantum physics, Bent of Mind addresses the continuous state of flux in which all matter exists. Not just the passage of time and changes associated with it but, perhaps, also our physical construction itself. As atoms, bound by energy, hang together in space, their very core containing it, what appears solid is actually not.
The biomorphic profile of Bent of Mind alters continually as the onlooker moves around it, drawing the eye to its extremities as one attempts to make sense of the shifting and distorted forms. "Scale lends Cragg's objects a stable monumentality, yet the surfaces of works like Bent of Mind writhe with a mass of subtly hidden human profiles" . Moving around the piece, an outstretched neck evaporates into a rounded chin, which in turn dissipates into an unfamiliar contour that, in an instant, reveals itself to be a pursed lip or bulging forehead. Like a giant in a high-speed gurning competition, Cragg maps a multitude of human facial possibilities through his depiction of movement. This could even be a monument to the instability of emotion in the uncertain and fast-paced modern world. Contours pulling in opposing directions create tensions throughout, while the smooth, undulating bronze radiates with bold highlights and dark shadows. The highly polished surface enhances the striking presence of the fluid form as the interplay of natural light creates new emphasis on previously unnoticed patterns, textures and curves.

Sketches ideas.

Finally I decided I would like to include a thermochromic texture.  My sketches took the form of the spine in my opinion but, after showing them to others, they thought  they looked more like worms or slugs.  Back to the drawing board!

I now realise that I need to make the structure more interlinked rather than rigid.  Justin suggested that they should have visible connecting parts with windows within.  The windows would allow a water feature to be visible and also allow for the connection between the spine and the various  parts of the body.  I now need to think about how I can bring all of this together with the thermochromic  texture.

Shahzia Sikander

This work was completed by Shahzia Sikander  who resides in New York City.  She is an artist who originated from Lahore in Pakistan and she specialises in Mughal miniature painting and Persian miniature painting. Religion is a significant element in her art as she is a practicing Muslim.  Sikander explores in particular the role of Muslim women and challenges Westerners views on Muslims in particular, those in relation to terrorism and the oppression of women.

I find her work very interesting and very colourful and it is not until you look in detail that you understand the structure of her paintings.   Due to the size of her work, individuals need to really tune into it,to gain a full understanding of it.  I would like my work to be the same.  I would like it to create thought  and from the exploration  and knowledge gained from it , an emotional satisfaction will occur.  Visually individuals will know that my sculpture is of a spine but it will only be with further interaction that they will gain further information from it.  

Pattern Images

Further to my research on thermochromic textures I have decided that I would like to use this concept but make my model as visual as possible.  To do this I want to include pattern into my design.

I have researched the process of designing patterns and I feel I have a good understanding of the elements within.  At this stage I still have not decided on the type of pattern that I will use.  It will also be necessary for me to give some consideration to colour choice within the pattern.   It will also be important for me to consider the use of water, plants etc as I would like my work to have an organic theme.

Sketching ideas

I then progressed with the sketching and thinking about the inclusion of sound, water and materials.

Spider diagram

This spider-gram shows my initial ideas.  From this I began to stretch and play around with these notions.  I began with the spine shape and its rotation (kenetics).  Then I combined research with my sketches. 

Photos that look like the spine (Architecture)

These architectural images clearly represent the spine. 

This is the London Millenium Bridge and it was designed by Norman Foster. The structure within this piece of work is similar to the structure of the spine.  

This tubing again provides a spinal image.  It further shows the support mechanism that this tubing provides.  I personally do not like this image, I find it rather intimidating because it looks so real.  

 Viewers can be in no doubt the this clearly depicts a spine like image. 



Photos that look like the spine. (plants)

I have included various photographs that represent my understanding of what the spine looks like in relation to nature. I think this was important due to the fact that I want to explore the various spine forms, patterns and the use of colour before I finally decide on the structure of my piece.

This flower attracted my attention because it was cheerful to look at due to its beatuiful colours.  Individuals gain emotional comfort from the beauty of nature.  On further inspection I noticed that the blue endings were missing at the top and bottom of the plant and this suggested two things to me; one that the plant had yet to mature or two, the flower was infact damaged.  Both of these scenarios can be associated with the human spine and the nerve endings.  Another feature of this plant to be considered is how the colouring has come about.  Do female plants have a pink spine with blue tips and are male plants of this type another colour. 

The colour of these leaves depicted health to me and they made me think about nutrition and well being.  It highlighted to me that the external environment greatly impacted on the health of these leaves i.e. too much heat and the leaves would become dry and crisp and too much rain and the leaves become heavy and bent over.  Comparing this to the human spine, again the environment in which the body is placed affects the health of the spine , as does the amount of nutrition and exercise that we take.   

The structure of this sheaf of wheat simulates the structure of the spine.  It would seem that this sheaf has yet to mature as it seems quite fragile.  However we know that such a plant becomes very strong and when ripe provides a source for many of the foods that we eat.

 For me this image represents the spinal column with the thorns protraying pain that affect this particular area of the body. If we consider the beauty of the rose and then the pain felt when we try to grasp this in our hand, we can see how complex this plant is.  If something happens the stem then the rose dies, similiar to the human body, if something happens to the spine then the associated body part will no longer be able to function.