Fwd: Immortal art
Jacqueline Satterlee
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Immortal art
May 31, 2013
I'm laptopping you from a persimmon grove in a corner of an extensive archaeological site known as "The Terracotta Warriors." Thousands of (mostly Chinese) tourists are grabbing souvenirs and thronging into an arena-sized building known as Pit No. 1. Over 6,000 life-sized figures are in there--only a third excavated so far. Qin Shi Huang (259BC-210BC), the first Emperor of China, employed and enslaved more than 700,000 workers here. Together with his nearby mausoleum, craftsmen took 35 years to ensure his immortality.
The warriors and their horses were fired from local clay in a complex process of casting, sculpting and layering. The detachable heads were finely finished and everything was originally painted in lifelike colour. Face to face with these 2200-year-olds, I see they're alternately serious, eager, philosophic, amused, tense, or lost in thought. Lots of personality is revealed, but no apparent theatrics in these faces--immortality, even then, was a serious business.
Scholars speculate a wide range of potters and other workers were employed--some perhaps ceramic workers from the court who may have been familiar with popular soldiers and generals. In a way, though, the faces are unitized. Roundish chins and noses are the norm and moustaches are pretty well consistent. Some of the types are rough and ready, while others look positively intellectual. It's all very spooky--these guys seem ready to jump into action.
Looking for evidence of personal style, researchers have found the signatures of more than 80 individual sculptors. Craftsmen and artists, even though they might happen to be slaves in those days, were held in high respect. FYI, we've put a selection of some of my favourite warriors at the top of the current clickback.
All this effort and all these soldiers were supposed to take Qin safely through his eternal afterlife. Maybe they did. But looking now through the veil of time and the fragility of human nature, it's also possible that only the art is immortal.
Best regards,
Robert
PS: "In Chinese history, almost all emperors paid attention to two things. One was to try all means of gaining immortality and, failing this, to at least build a grand mausoleum." (Wu Xiaocong, Archaeologist)
Esoterica: What can we learn from Qin's vision? (1) We artists need to make our art as permanent as possible. (2) Even though we may be part of a great crowd, we need our art to have individual personality. (3) If what we make turns out to be half decent, people will eventually show up to take a look. (4) Someone will always be around to make cheap imitations.
When Qin died at age fifty, he'd consolidated China into one large state. He also standardized the currency, modernized the language, unified weights and measures and got a good start on the Great Wall. He was also a mean one. "Everything will be dictated," he announced at the beginning of his rule. Minor offences were to receive various ghastly versions of the death penalty. Delivered finally to his underground mausoleum, even his spare concubines were buried with him--alive. On the other hand, he was, as they say, a great supporter of the arts.
Current Clickback: "Cropping and not cropping" looks at cropping and windowless subjects. Your comments will be appreciated.
Read this letter online and share your thoughts about immortality and art. Live comments are welcome. Direct, illustratable comments can be made at rg...@saraphina.com
The Art Show Calendar: If you or your group has a show coming up, put an illustrated announcement on The Painter's Keys site. The longer it's up, the more people will see it. Your announcement will be shown until the last day of your show.
The Workshop Calendar: Here is a selection of workshops and seminars laid out in chronological order that will stimulate, teach, mentor, take you to foreign lands or just down the street. Many of these workshops are recommended by Robert and friends. Incidentally, if you are planning a workshop and have photos of happy people working, feel free to send them to us and we'll include a selection in the workshops feature at no extra charge.
The Painter's Post: Every day new material is going into this feature. Links to art info, ideas, inspiration and all kinds of creative fun can be found in this online arts aggregator.
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