Since leaving art school in the 1980’s I have deliberately pursued a policy of trying to re-open the agreement between the Christian churches and the artist. By doing so, hopefully the task of creating a coherent body of contemporary art work in this field can be addressed. Because of Australia’s unique combination of ancient landscape, outstanding indigenous culture and multi-cultural society, it is I believe, well placed to make a significant contribution in this area. Hopefully the story of the Henley Beach commission will become part of this larger story.
By any measure Henley Beach was a large and involved sculpture commission. This wealthy sea-side suburban parish of Adelaide (the capital city of South Australia), had just completed building one of the more ambitious new church and parish centre complexes in Australia. It was a large budget project which had used a young award winning local architect (Rick Bizouwi) to create a substantial new worship space for today’s liturgy. Already full of excellent art and design work from local creative people, they could not however, source a satisfactory solution to the central crucifix from local artists. Although some months had passed since the completion of the building programme, many people in the community felt that the worship space was incomplete without a central devotional work of art. A committee was convened to source the art work and their inquiries eventually lead them to me. Over the seven years that the studio (founded by Anthony Russo and myself in 1987) had been involved with church commissions, it had built up a reputation for both contemporary liturgical art and design and for taking on responsibility for the completion of large commissions.
But while these qualities may have won us numerous commissions, they had, by and large, cancelled us out of serious contention within the contemporary art world. Unfortunately because the emphasis last century had favoured individual creative endeavour and not public commissions, there had been few attempts to develop three dimensional art work to a point where it could cope with the rigors of large scale permanent public commissions. Although there are always important exceptions to what I have suggested, by and large it has been true The art infrastructure which would have once serviced the churches needs, was largely depleted and incapable of training a new generation of art students to work professionally at this level. For sculptors who want to work on large scale commissions as part of their artistic repertoire, they had largely to become self-taught. The story of a commission like this which would once have been commonplace, sadly it is now unusual.
Selling art works from exhibition is a relatively simple commercial transaction, by acting on behalf of artists, galleries shield them from the full commercial realities of their trade. If you allow your creativity to step outside the protective custody of the gallery walls, then a whole new field of endeavour opens up to you. The whole process of finding appropriate clients, conceiving an idea, negotiating with clients and successfully completing a commission now belongs to you. Many human qualities need to be brought to bare on this process, but through it all, creativity should always be the dominant force behind it.
One of the most important of these qualities is organisation. In order to have a measure of control over many of the facets of a commission, the process needs to be organised and divided up into stages. I propose to use these stages to help guide us through the long journey of the commission process.
NEGOTIATIONS FOR A COMMISSION
Not only does the commission process need to be divided into stages to help simplify it’s complexities, but so too does the negotiating stage. By staging the negotiations the client is allowed to feel comfortable at each level before committing themselves to any further development.
(I believe that many potential clients will not even begin the preliminary stages of a commission because they are concerned that once begun they cannot stop or control it.) The advantage for the artist in staging is that design fees can be calculated and paid on completion of each stage. This then allows the due process of the preliminary stages of a commission to be completed without having to rush to the making stage before any funds can begin to flow.
THE CONCEPTUAL STAGE
Because O.D.S. was not simply just a studio for making finished art works, but was employed as much for it’s conceptual and design skills as for it’s making skills, the conceptual stage is instrumental in not only guaranteeing the success of the finished work, but also testing if the work will capture the imagination of the client and be commissioned at all. In many ways this is the most critical stage of any commission and employs much of our time and thought at the studio. In order to try and understand the commission process it is important to try and describe how this stage functions.
When first making sculptures at art school few themes or processes are part of the creative act. As your artistic experience increases so does the structure within your approach to creativity. Themes emerge, technical processes and solutions develop and a more mature approach to solving problems and to responding to artistic challenges emerges.
To help with both the conceptual stage and the making stage, the studio will ,at any one time, have several stylistic, technical and image making themes dominating it’s life. This back-drop of continually developing ideas and concepts is the first area you look for inspiration when approaching a new commission work. Although it must also be remembered that each new work is an opportunity to look for new themes or to try new concepts. In the case of the Henley Beach commission, a brand new theme emerged superimposed over the development of a new technical process for the studio. As is shown in the concept drawings, the combination of a hand carved figure placed within an explosion of art-glass panels was an exciting new prospect. Along with this core concept came another for this work which was also a break-through concept for the studio; the use of the Processional Cross as an integral part of the Crucifix design.
Although some conceptual stages run slowly, the best move quickly and resolve themselves with a flurry of mental activity as the right solution becomes clear. This is an exciting time for both Anthony and myself, with ideas being floated, tested with intense conversation and finally either being accepted or rejected. A verbal shorthand punctuates moments of silence as our minds picture a concept, visualise it and turn it like an image on a computer screen, all the time evaluating it’s potential. Concepts are swapped back and forward between us and grow and change in the process. With the Henley Beach commission the outline of the work had emerged the morning after we had arrived to meet the clients and inspect the site.
Unwittingly clients give clues and insights into a possible solution without realising it. Many committees expect prolonged intense meetings with artists, but Anthony and I have found that short informal meetings, even simple conversations, are more effective. In my experience if a community is ready for an art work the clues are there for those who are looking for them. Although this century has emphasised the exhibiting artist and I too enjoy working in exhibition mode, I cannot speak highly enough of the rich experiences to be had when you work with a community on an art work for them. Not the least of these riches being the chance for outside influences to inject new concepts or themes into your work which may not have occurred if you only work in isolation. Sculptors like architects work on projects which are so large that only by working with communities on formal commissions can they be realised. Although working in isolation suits painters, the visual art form which has dominated the twentieth century, the emphasis on exhibition based art has created a great deal of tension for many sculptors whose concepts need to be realised on a grand scale.
The recurring image for the figure within the Resurrection Sculpture which emerged was the rising figure of Christ wrapped within swirling drapery. Not only was this image a compelling option theologically, but the challenge for me to carve, from a single log, a life-size figure with extended use of swirling drapery was compelling. Having first been attracted to woodcarving by the Renaissance masterpieces of Southern German carvers like Veit Stoss and Tilman Reimenschneider, I was keen to work on the same scale and complexity as did they.
However, no matter how compelling the masterpieces from the past may be, the challenge for any artist is to live and create within their own time. If the figure for Henley Beach was to have elements of a classical theme, the overall effect must always be contemporary. Within the devotional art works designed and completed by O.D.S. the design elements surrounding the figures have always been used to carry a strong contemporary feel, this work was to be no exception. The design elements in the work were also to be a critical part of our strategy to resolve complicated siting problems and were as always a key element in making successful site specific works.
Looking through art books I had noticed that too many important woodcarvings from the past had been visually devalued because of the poor quality of their siting within their environment. Although the carving may have been excellent, their surroundings were unsympathetic and devalued the work. The side altar or Retable featured in many european churches and cathedrals, overcame this problem by creating a total environment for the carving tableaux that they housed. Anthony’s design work also tries to achieve this, but in many ways goes further by trying to bridge the gap between three dimensional design and architectural interiors. But this is not just applied decorative design, but a further expanding of the concept within the work told in a contemporary design medium. Hopefully the result is greater than the sum of it’s parts and richer than a single artist working alone on large scale commissions.
The end of the conceptual stage involves presenting conceptual drawings to the committee who organised the brief and negotiated with the artist. These drawings are important because they can prove the validity of the proposed work to yourself and inspire the clients to imagine the possibilities your concept is unlocking. If the concept strikes a chord with the clients and they support the direction you have chosen, then the real work for the commission can then begin.
DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
Once agreement is reached and comments received on the conceptual stage then the work of design development can begin. This stage involves re-evaluation and refinement of the proposed concept for the art work, preparation of presentation drawings and a detailed costing of the proposed work. Many contemporary commentators on the arts would not see these processes as having any particular relevance to the creative process, yet without them most large commissions could not be realised.
Perhaps the most important of these for the finished work is the process of refinement that this stage necessitates. Personal exhibition works can sit around for long periods of time waiting to be refined (I know mine do), but with commission works you do not always have this luxury. Although often times uncomfortable, this stage forces the works to go through a refinement process which turns raw concepts into mature resolved art works. In exhibition mode an artist normally covers this ground at their own pace with little outside influence. Commissions force this stage to be covered at sometimes uncomfortable speeds, but given the longevity of sculptural works and the large budgets involved, it is essential that this ground is crossed and that works are refined before being finally commissioned.
It is during this process that many final details are resolved (although it should be emphasised that we do not produce blue-prints for a work, but leave the concept as flexible as possible to allow the work to change and grow during the making process .) Yet it is important that a clear picture of the finished work is arrived at so that an accurate costing can be made. This becomes imperative on large commissions like Henley Beach where major components are to be sourced from outside the studio.
It is also the time where careful thought must be put into the logistics of making and installing the proposed work. This is now the appropriate time to make subtle changes which can either, enhance the aesthetics of the work, or help with practicalities of the making process or the look of the piece when finished. In the final analysis every work of art is a trade-off between all the competing interests that go to make it up. Great concepts are of little use if they cannot be successfully made within the practical constraints of each commission. Recent attitudes within the contemporary art world have devalued the commission process suggesting that no great art allows any compromises with the concept for a work. My experience suggests to me that it is only those who are most in touch with their creativity who can find the delicate points of balance between concept and reality and not compromise either. It is those who are most creative who can manage their creativity and remain true to it and withstand the rigors of the commission process. For me the artists from history that I have admired most were those who able to find the balance between raw creative inspiration and the artistic ability to bring these concepts to fruition in a finished work of art.
In concluding this important point I would only add the direct experience that Anthony and I have had on commissions like Henley Beach. By opening up parts of the creative process to outside influence and scrutiny, as one must do during the commission process, and not creating only in isolation, the concepts have had a much richer environment in which to germinate and grow. In many cases contact with the world has encouraged us to expand our creativity, not truncate it. Like an athlete in training, the continual testing and challenging of our artistry has, I believe, enhanced it’s development not impeded it.
The development of presentation drawings is an essential step in any successful commission. Concept drawings are only used within the confines of the commissioning committee. These people understand the process enough to allow the raw concept sketches to speak to them of a finished art work. Hopefully they have the imagination to see what Anthony and I have imagined, or the integrity to trust the good intentions of the artist they are working with. Presentation drawings permit the concept to be developed and presented to the wider community in a form that captures much more of the life of the finished work. In many cases the decision to proceed with the commission has virtually been made, the release of the finished drawings usually confirms this point for all concerned. However, sometimes these drawings become an essential tool in testing the communities vision and, in the case of Henley Beach, galvanizing their support for the project. For this commission the careful ground work by the committee plus the displaying of the drawings were essential in making the work a reality.
This particular parish had an interesting recent history which was an essential part of their attitude to the commission. They had been a conglomerate of smaller parishes which went through the trauma of selling established church properties and relocating to an existing site with a new church building. The construction process, usually traumatic enough for any community, was intensified by all the strong feelings of loss that many members of the community felt. Many found it very difficult to detach themselves from their loyalties to their original churches enough to begin the process of building a new church community. Although we were not to know it at the time, the commissioning of the crucifix became an opportunity for many members of the community to finally accept and join in with the new church.
Concerned about many of these issues, including dwindling finances, the committee decided to display the finished drawings and let the community decide. From all reports the support received was overwhelming, with the majority of the necessary funds being raised for this substantial project in a matter of weeks. It seemed that for many people the church would not be complete until a crucifix was installed. Anthony and I did not understand the depth of feeling invested in this commission, until on completion of the work, some members of the new community were lead into the church to see the new sculpture; as a sign of relief and release tears flowed freely from these people. In few other areas of our work is contact established with clients at such a deep and touching level of human experience.
THE MAKING PROCESS
Standing at the beginning of a large commission is like looking down an outback road that stretches to the horizon and beyond. It is easy to begin to worry about the journey before you, but the thrill of the voyage quickly dispels any fears and like all great journeys you begin with the first step.
THE TIMBER
For me one of the great thrills of woodcarving is to undertake a large work from one log or flitch of timber. I had a 260 cm. (8ft. 6in.) long and 90 cm. (3ft.) wide half log of Queensland White Beech, which is perhaps australia’s premier carving timber with similar performance characteristics as the european Linden and the nth. american Basswood. White beech is an extremely stable timber which copes well with the drying process and seldom cracks. It is light brown to tan in colour and although it has low structural strength along the grain, it carves beautifully both along and across the grain. Because this timber suits the carving process so well, it makes technical carving that much easier. The timber weighed so much that I needed the studio forklift to manoeuvre it into position, in fact on large carvings much of the preliminary work is done on the forklift so that I can lift, tilt and work around large sections of timber with as much ease as possible.
Half-log carving is a modern adaptation of traditional log carving. Because the three main native species I tend to carve are large forest trees growing up to 120 cm. (4ft.) in diameter, I normally have the timber mill cut the logs in half along their length. Not only does this double the number of carvings I can recover from a log, but this also helps release tensions and stresses within the log as it dries. This is essential today because the culture of woodcarving is no longer strong enough to have professional carvers being supplied with large sections of air-dried timber ready for carving commissions. Most large work has to be done with wet timber, hence my move to half-log carving which minimises timber loss during air drying. By presenting the carving frontally it allows you to hollow out the back of the carving which speeds up the natural drying process, reduces weight and reduces the tension within the carving and therefore the risk of cracking. It should be remembered that large logs can take up to twenty years or more to dry and stabilise, I should really be carving timber that my grandparents put aside for my generation to use.
STAGES OF THE CARVING
MARKING OUT
Many people who carve wood like to carefully map out what they want from a work and almost engineer the result. Because of my art and sculpture background I have a different approach. Once the commission is accepted I like to go strait to the piece of timber I have chosen for the carving (this can be quite an art in itself, matching timber to ideas) clean up the rough surface and map out the image on the log. Although I spend a great deal of time matching the proportions of the image to the log, the drawn image is only a rough guide to the final outcome. Because I want to highlight the sculptural elements in a work as well as the carving qualities, the process of unlocking the figure within the wood is left deliberately loose. This allows the spontaneity of the carving process to play a part in the finished work. Because of this I find most times the preliminary stages of a carving are the most exciting.
Marking out the carving on the log and preparing the surface for drawing is an essential first step in the carving process. This mapping out of the image helps set the coarse for the carving which is to follow. The first priority is to assess, in detail, the log you have chosen for the commission. By removing the rough exterior of the log with an electric plane a clean surface is made ready for detailed drawing. While completing this task you need to be coming to terms with the individual features of the timber you are about to carve. Each log has it’s life history frozen within it’s grain patterns and growth features, when superimposing your image over the log care needs to be taken to match the volumes of the carving to the volumes of the log. Areas of finished detail on the carving need to be matched to areas of clean open grain on the timber, avoiding areas of swirling or difficult grain. Some redesign or reworking of the placement or flow of the image may need to be made at this time.
Initially the task is to scale up from the concept drawing to the finished scale of the carving on the surface of the log. (The challenge in any carving is to maximise the use of the available volume of timber in the log while also minimising the weight.) Although exact details are not important at this stage, accurate proportions for the image are essential.
ROUGHING OUT (UNLOCKING THE CARVING)
Roughing out the carving is for me one of the most exciting stages of the carving process. This stage happens quickly with a flurry of activity and when done successfully, sets up the whole of the carving process. The goal at this early stage is to identify all the major features of the finished work. The most obvious feature of this particular carving was the swirling drapery around the figure, this not only provided an artistic challenge to balance off the movement of the figure with that of the drapery, but also a technical one to extract this movement and complexity from the one log. But although I have a definite vision of what is needed from the carving, the outcome is allowed to become a unique combination of this intent on my part, what the particular piece of timber will allow and the possibilities that present themselves as you unlock the form within the timber and the carving begins to take on a life of its own.
When working with carving students, I have always started them on simple tasks where both profiles (side and top profiles for example) of the object they are about to carve are clearly visible and understandable. When undertaking a work with the complex relationships between figure and drapery that this work has, then this strait forward approach to profiles does not apply. This work had to be carved ,that is, unlocked in stages by the carving process itself. Normally the cuts with the chainsaw would clearly identify all the major areas to be carved with the gouges, in this case the roughing out stage only approximated the real form, hand work was the only way to really begin the process of identifying the form of the figure. The more you worked the timber the more the final image emerged for you to see.
After the log is set up on timber bearers on the ground, the first defining cuts can be made. (In it’s simplest form carving only involves removing the bits of wood you don’t need. Knowing what you need to keep and what you need to leave is the hard part.) Traditionally this preliminary work would have been done with a bowsaw or broad axe and have taken many days to complete. With electric power tools and chainsaws the work on a large carving can take as little as one day. As I expected, it was difficult to clearly define the major profiles and features of the carving, but after a days work with the chainsaws the main shapes and volumes of the carving were clearly visible. Although difficult to define the drapery as it wrapped around the figure, it was already becoming the major dynamic of the carving. The smaller power-tools, especially the small electric chainsaw and the small angle-grinder fitted with the arbortech cutting disk were essential in helping me complete this stage successfully.
A critical element of this early stage is to begin to define and resolve the front proportions and details of the carving. As soon as this is done the timber can be turned and the process of hollowing out the back of the carving can begin. This then allows the stresses in the log to be released as well as speeding up the drying process. By removing as much waste material as soon as possible in the carving process and hollowing out the back of the carving, an even wall thickness can be achieved allowing increased air flow around the work and uniform rates of drying and movement can occur. In wet log carving the timber dries and stabilises as it is exposed to the air by the carving process.
DETAILED CARVING
The real art of carving does not start till the preliminary rough out phase has been completed. Up until then you are just removing unwanted material, however, even at this stage care must be taken because the success of the finished work can easily be compromised. At the end of this stage the power tools are put aside and hand carving gouges are now used to begin the stage of shaping and refining the carving.
If modern power tools and electricity bring you into the late twentieth century, carving with hand tools takes you back to the traditional skills and pace of working that has remain unchanged for hundreds of years. The challenge, then and now, is to use these simple refined tools to free the images within the timber and bring them to life.
As was mentioned previously, most of the essential carving and shaping work in this piece had to be completed during the detailed carving stage. As the progress shots of the carving show, the figure masked within the folds of the drapery could only be released and defined slowly as each new layer of wood was removed. Head and face, torso, legs and feet, all began to emerge from within the swirling drapery as the gouges worked deep into the timber.
With the figure defined I was able to add on the long grain timber blanks for the arms. These were glued and dowelled on using custom made lathe turned dowells from the same white beech timber. Sash cramps were used to apply the necessary pressure on the joint while the glue dried overnight. Once dry, the cramps could be removed and the total figure was now ready for the carving process to continue.
Up until the last I was prepared to make decisions about the final look of the carving. The pose, arms outstretched palms up feet together and the head slightly tilted back, all spoke of the figure at it’s moment of transition from flesh to spirit called the Resurrection. But along with this I wanted more from the figure, I wanted to enhance the expressive and sculptural elements while at the same time being true to the devotional nature of the work. One of the visual elements I had been working with recently was the concept of the figure being physically consumed by the spirit s it travelled through the process of resurrection. I wanted to sculpt a physical sign of what was happening internally to the figure.
In this work I allowed extra material on both the left hip and the right shoulder and arm to sculpt geometric shapes over these portions of the body. These shapes were also to have stainless steel inserts and inlays to further enhance the look of the work and to reinforce the concept of transition. Although at the time I would have liked to have extended the use of these elements, one has to remember that this was still a devotional work of art and was commissioned by the community on that basis.
Unlike painters, sculptors working on large commissions are always trying to find that delicate point of balance between these competing artistic interests, which include being true to the clients’ as well as your own interests. Both Anthony and I always try and push the boundaries of what the client will accept, but as three-dimensional artists we are both prepared to run the gauntlet of this dilemma in order to get access to the challenge of large projects and large budgets. My experience would suggest that well managed creative vision is able to absorb the impact of client demands and still be true to itself and the ideals it is pursuing. Twentieth century art has tended to reject this argument and has maintained that art and creativity can only survive and flourish in isolation from these types of demands being placed on it. Hopefully this commission and the body of work it is representing can begin to prove this counter argument to be wrong. I believe that art cannot sustain itself in either total isolation or total commercialisation. Each artist should be judged on how well they have managed the balances between all these competing interests.
FINISHING
I always tell students that carving and sculpting is fun at the start and at the end; unfortunately most of what lies in between requires hard work and dedication. It is essential with large projects like Henley Beach that you keep the artistic vision of your work alive throughout the long making process that is involved. While freeing the image within the timber you must always be able to identify the goal of the finished work and maintain a steady coarse for this point, even when it lies somewhere off in the distance. As with any journey the euphoria that accompanies any new trip is always very attractive, finally arriving at your destination is also rewarding, but the hard work of completing the journey is never easy. But after completing the months of sustained carving involved in a large commission such as this, the finishing stage of the work is like an oasis in a desert.
Because of the complexities involved in carving this image the detailed finishing stage was even more critical. Normally the character of the work would be pulled into focus during the detailed carving stage, with the finishing used just to polish up the surface of the carving. In this case, however, the finishing not only had to give the glow to the work that draws out the full potential of the image you have carved, but it also had to describe the final shapes and volumes of the carving which could not be completed till this late stage in the process.
Traditionally carvings which were to be painted would be scraped smooth with glass and the surface prepared for the pigments. As woodcarving became an art form in it’s own right, the works were finished with fine gouge work and the surface coated with a protective coating of oils and bees-wax. In most of my early works I was not confident about my carving ability so I used a sanded finish after fine carving was completed. Although effective, this process tended to mask the detail of the carving and cover up some of the best and most spontaneous aspects of woodcarving process. As my confidence has grown I have tended to finish with the gouge, keeping the subtleties and spontaneity of this technique locked into the finished work.
In many of my most recent works I have been tending to use a combination of both sanded and gouge finished surfaces, especially where some of the surfaces where to be stained. For Henley Beach I decided to use this approach and face carve the figure while contrasting this with a sanded finish on the drapery. What was to follow was several weeks of intense fine carving with small gouges as you worked your way across the whole of the surface of the figure. Because white beech tends to have a dull surface when finished, you need to consider using finishing processes which will enhance the surface of the timber. Because face carving will always draw the maximum potential from the finished surface I was more than happy to work my way through this process. Sanding the surface of the drapery would not only prepare the drapery to be stained a rich mahogany red, but it would also highlight the flow of the hanging drapery.
With the bulk of the surface finished and the pressure off the carving, I could now turn my attention to the next stage of the work the metal inlay components. This was an opportunity for Anthony and I to return to working closely together on the central image of this resurrection sculpture. In order to enhance the sculptural aspects of this work I had decided to use polished stainless steel components and inlays with the finished carving. These further enhanced the surface and gave the work a dynamic which was distinctly contemporary. This contrasted well with the traditional elements of the carving process and the look of the swirling drapery.
Many types of finishes are now available, but in general they can be divided into ‘inthe wood’ finishes and ‘on the wood’ finishes. Lacquers, traditional varnishes and today’s polyurethane clear finishes are included in this latter group. Oil and wax finishes are part of the first group. In general the more complex the carving the more likely I am to use traditional oil finishes on a work. Naturally I had chosen to use a’danish’ oil finish over the whole ofthe figure. This style of oil combines the warmth and gentle glow of the oil finishes with the strength and protection of the resins and hardeners of varnishes. It has traditionally been used as a finish for high quality solid timber furniture. By coating the whole of the surface with four coats of this excellent quality oil finish, the carving was permanently sealed and protected.
INSTALLATION
The studio has always had a strict policy of installing our own works. Not only is this the final step in your quality control program, but it also stamps your ownership on the final outcome. In the end no-one can know the artwork more than you and no-one is better placed to complete the task of installation than those who designed it. Even on large outdoor sculpture projects with cranes and machinery and contractors, sculptors should always be there in the middle of the action.
Henley Beach did not need a crane, but it did need a large temporary scaffold to construct a working platform 6.5 metres above the Sanctuary floor. The 8 mtr. ceiling above the sanctuary housed the suspended framework for the video projector, the artwork had been designed to anchor to this structure. We had come equipped with a custom made metal bracket which was to be attached to the existing heavy metal framework. The working platform was needed to give us and our small crew of volunteer helpers, access to all sides of the framework. It was also needed to help raise the heavy carving and expensive and delicate ‘art’ glass panels up to the required height. Both Anthony and I had spent a great deal of time on the phone with the firm who were to supply and erect the scaffolding. We had made sure that we would be there to supervise it’s installation.
We had opted for a central platform immediately under the framework and a series of platforms arranged as steps leading up to the height of the main working platform. Rather than hoisting the components of the sculpture up to the platform on a winch, we had decided to have the five 1 metre high steps
so that we could lift the heavy, but delicate, items up step by step. In the end it proved to be a fool-proof method of lifting the components to the required height without damaging either them or ourselves.
Both the carved figure and the art glass panels had been pre-fitted to the special metal frame in the studio. To ensure an accurate fit Anthony had used original templates with locating holes which were used by both the studios doing the glass panels and the metal work. Because the suspended panels had to be both kiln fired and heat treated and ‘toughened’ for safety, no adjustment or change could be made to them after they were finished - accuracy and consistency was essential. The whole work had been assembled on the ground at the studio and all fine tuning had taken place at the time. When finally assembled in the vertical position above the sanctuary, everything fell into place. The behind the scenes work that Anthony and I had completed throughout the commission all came down to final assembly on site. This background effort was justified by the smooth installation of the finished work. The satisfaction of seeing the scaffolding erected, the work successfully completed, new lighting installed (we had had to organise an electrician to install upgraded lighting for the work while the scaffolding was still intact) and the scaffolding pulled down in one day and the artwork floating free in it’s permanent home was deeply satisfying and a source of great relief for us.
Although luck is sometimes needed to make things go your way, both Anthony and I believe that sound planning is the real support mechanism required to make strong creative ideas a reality. Dreaming the dream is essential, but without the practical back-up of hard work and sound project management, great ideas will never be bought to life.
At it’s best, the creative process engages the whole human being and needs all the diverse qualities that we can bring to bear on it. Our concentration on the importance of the ‘cerebral’ and intellectual this century has perhaps misunderstood all the qualities needed to finally bring a concept into reality. The experiences of Anthony and myself in working with communities and with the process of realising the concept for a commission have been humbled by the richness of the experiences involved. Final installation of a major creative work must count high among these.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
As the commissions become larger and more sophisticated, organisation of each project becomes more critical to it’s success. When all parts of the commission used to be completed within the walls of the studio, management of the project occurred as a matter of coarse. When industry and other specialist art studios are involved, a great deal more effort and care needs to be injected into the project management by both Anthony and myself. This is not only especially true during the making process, but also during the design development stage when pricing of the commission needs to be formalised.
The challenge of Project Management is not simply to chart the coarse of the components of the finished work being sourced from outside the studio, it is also to establish a rapport and close working relationship with those involved in the work. Both Anthony and I spend a great deal of time making sure that the other studios and workshops involved not only are familiar with the task at hand, but that they have a feeling for the work and what we are trying to achieve together.
On large commissions a great deal of creativity and common sense is needed in choosing who is to be involved in any one project. Quite often the tasks overlap and workshops need to be compatible. The careful management of all aspects of a work is essential in guaranteeing both consistent quality and correct interpretation of the concept involved. In the final analysis the success of a project rests squarely with both Anthony and myself and is an expression of all the work that has gone on behind the scenes. Working with the clients both before and during the commission is essential to a successful outcome. The ‘fail-safe’ for any project is that all components are finally brought back to our studio for assembly and final detailing and matching with the components we have made.
The smooth progress of the work and it’s components is essential to it’s ultimate success. Many separate tasks have to be managed concurrently. For example, while the carving was underway Anthony had been busy working on the large glass panels which were to surround the figure. This was no simple task because the glass not only had to work artistically, but had to be safe enough to hang suspended six metres above the sanctuary floor. Anthony had not only spent a great deal of time designing and making the prototype glass panels, but now had to spend large amounts of time out of the studio working with the art glass studio and the engineer designing a metal frame which could carry the weight and bulk of the carving, but yet still protect the finished glass panels from any movement. While completing your own tasks within the project, both Anthony and I had had to take time out to manage related aspects of the work being completed outside the studio.
In every project the studio has undertaken, large amounts of effort and time have always been invested in the project management of the artwork. We have yet to be disappointed with this investment because it has always paid dividends in the quality of the finished works that the studio has managed to complete. Hopefully this can continue into the future and help us take on larger and more complex sculpture projects.
CONCLUSION
Unlike painters, three dimensional artists like woodcarvers and sculptors are always trying to find that delicate point of balance between the competing artistic interests of being true to your own creative vision and to the needs of the client. I have always tried to push the boundaries of what the clients will accept, but as an artist you must be prepared to run the gauntlet of this dilemma in order to get access to the challenge of large projects and large budgets.
My impression is that many sculptors, like architects, have by the nature of their work, had to face the same quandary of living out their artistry in partnership with their community. This can be a sobering experience at times, but although it can restrict the boundaries for an artwork, it can also face you with artistic and personal challenges that could not have arisen if you worked in isolation from the world.
My experiences so far suggests to me that well managed creativity can absorb the impact of client demands and still be true to itself and the ideals it is pursuing. For me this commission story asks far more questions than it answers, because it challenges our present notion of what it means to be an artist. By looking beyond the narrow confines of the ‘gallery’ walls the whole concept of what it means to be a creative person in the visual arts is opened up for debate. Because large scale sculpture does not work well as an ‘exhibition’ art form and painting (the dominant twentieth century art form) does, serious art within the public realm has not been given a high priority in recent years. Most large public commissions have simply transferred private exhibition art into the public arena with few worthwhile results either for the art or the viewing public.
Rather than just having an artistic conversation with yourself, my experience, expressed in this commission, is much more about a conversation with the world outside the walls of the studio or gallery so that people, in this country, can have a chance to interact with significant works of art which are part of their lives. Although I still maintain a strong personal commitment to my own exhibition work, my have maintained my fascination with turning art into culture as well as personal exhibition works; with turning human excellence and artistic vision into sustained cultural achievement which can, like cultures we admire from the past, stand the test of time.
MARK WEICHARD 2008