reflections of a sculptor

Leonardo

Reflections of a SculptorAuthor(s): Hélène GauthierSource: Leonardo, Vol. 33, No. 2 (2000), pp. 113-114Published by: The MIT PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1576844 .

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the concept of the "random automa-

ton," which consists of introducing within the automaton a random process in the choice of the conditions of

neighborhood [6] and/or in the choice of the evolution of the colorimetrical state of the cell being studied [7]. This

process introduces a formal adaptability that modulates the basic structure but maintains it at the same time and leads in this way to different pictures each time the program is reread. These different pictures share, however, a similar

general structure compared with the

previous ones, suggesting the notion of a "shape-color family."

References and Notes

1. The concept of cellular automata, a reduced form of the automata concept (from the origins of cybernetic and computer science), refers to the notion of near order, elaborated by Abraham Moles. It makes reference to the setting up of a complex order on a set of cells (i.e. pixels, since it is a digital picture) from a simple law that calculates the colorimetrical state of each pixel according to the colorimetrical state of its nearest neighbors.

2. See for instance the special section "Artificial Life Art" in Leonardo 31, No. 5 (1998).

3. B. Caillaud, "Recherche plastique et automates cellulaires," Art-re-vision (Paris) No. 5 (November 1994) pp. 22-25.

4. Moving along the horizontal axis, the cell following the last cell on the right is none other than the first one on the left. On the vertical axis, the cell following the last one at the bottom is none other than the first one on the top.

5. Anachromose: the progressive and continuous derivation of the chromatic scale of a picture.

6. "Conditions of neighborhood" refers to conditions involving the values of the colorimetrical state of the cells nearest to the cell being examined. These conditions determine the new colorimetrical state of the cell. For example, for two colorimetrical states (black and white), if the cells on both the left and the right sides of the cell being examined are black, then the examined cell (in the middle) becomes (or remains) white.

7. For a given set of identical conditions of neighborhood, the new colorimetrical state of the cell being examined is no longer unique but can have different values determined at random.

REFLECTIONS OF A SCULPTOR Helene Gauthier, 5 rue Blanchet, 94700

Maison-Alfort, France.

Manuscript received 1 June 1998. Accepted for publication by Jacques Mandelbrojt.

Sculpture as Resistance to Words It is impossible to talk about sculpture. An artist may speak of an intimate need that pushes her to do certain things, may speak of her practice. Others can

the concept of the "random automa-

ton," which consists of introducing within the automaton a random process in the choice of the conditions of

neighborhood [6] and/or in the choice of the evolution of the colorimetrical state of the cell being studied [7]. This

process introduces a formal adaptability that modulates the basic structure but maintains it at the same time and leads in this way to different pictures each time the program is reread. These different pictures share, however, a similar

general structure compared with the

previous ones, suggesting the notion of a "shape-color family."

References and Notes

1. The concept of cellular automata, a reduced form of the automata concept (from the origins of cybernetic and computer science), refers to the notion of near order, elaborated by Abraham Moles. It makes reference to the setting up of a complex order on a set of cells (i.e. pixels, since it is a digital picture) from a simple law that calculates the colorimetrical state of each pixel according to the colorimetrical state of its nearest neighbors.

2. See for instance the special section "Artificial Life Art" in Leonardo 31, No. 5 (1998).

3. B. Caillaud, "Recherche plastique et automates cellulaires," Art-re-vision (Paris) No. 5 (November 1994) pp. 22-25.

4. Moving along the horizontal axis, the cell following the last cell on the right is none other than the first one on the left. On the vertical axis, the cell following the last one at the bottom is none other than the first one on the top.

5. Anachromose: the progressive and continuous derivation of the chromatic scale of a picture.

6. "Conditions of neighborhood" refers to conditions involving the values of the colorimetrical state of the cells nearest to the cell being examined. These conditions determine the new colorimetrical state of the cell. For example, for two colorimetrical states (black and white), if the cells on both the left and the right sides of the cell being examined are black, then the examined cell (in the middle) becomes (or remains) white.

7. For a given set of identical conditions of neighborhood, the new colorimetrical state of the cell being examined is no longer unique but can have different values determined at random.

REFLECTIONS OF A SCULPTOR Helene Gauthier, 5 rue Blanchet, 94700

Maison-Alfort, France.

Manuscript received 1 June 1998. Accepted for publication by Jacques Mandelbrojt.

Sculpture as Resistance to Words It is impossible to talk about sculpture. An artist may speak of an intimate need that pushes her to do certain things, may speak of her practice. Others can

nique and materials. If one could ex-

plain sculpture with words, it would be useless to create it. Surely sculpture would be only virtual.

Sculpture is a play between matter, form and light. It is an architecture of

sensation, a presence, another "myself." Like us, it has three dimensions. It is a bit of my "ego" set up in space. Like a live being, sculpture begins with the

embryo of an idea that grows and at a certain moment escapes from the will of the sculptor. It becomes autonomous and has its own logical functioning.

The interior need that pushes me to do things came to me from a rebellion

against what is fractured, partial. Sculp- ture is a language, but only poetry says

nique and materials. If one could ex-

plain sculpture with words, it would be useless to create it. Surely sculpture would be only virtual.

Sculpture is a play between matter, form and light. It is an architecture of

sensation, a presence, another "myself." Like us, it has three dimensions. It is a bit of my "ego" set up in space. Like a live being, sculpture begins with the

embryo of an idea that grows and at a certain moment escapes from the will of the sculptor. It becomes autonomous and has its own logical functioning.

The interior need that pushes me to do things came to me from a rebellion

against what is fractured, partial. Sculp- ture is a language, but only poetry says

everything. The vocabulary of forms that I use comes from looking every- where, and always. It is an omnipotent attitude that in the end conditions my life. It is a way of thinking.

Of Encounters and Influences Some artists create seeds that can be

developed by others. One of Picasso's

periods that inspired me was that of the

giants. With Picasso's giants I felt the sensation of protection that a child feels in the arms of an adult. The protection offered by those big bodies ap- pears in my works as the nostalgic shelter that I find in shapes, whether a small space that protects or a big one that opens to welcome one.

everything. The vocabulary of forms that I use comes from looking every- where, and always. It is an omnipotent attitude that in the end conditions my life. It is a way of thinking.

Of Encounters and Influences Some artists create seeds that can be

developed by others. One of Picasso's

periods that inspired me was that of the

giants. With Picasso's giants I felt the sensation of protection that a child feels in the arms of an adult. The protection offered by those big bodies ap- pears in my works as the nostalgic shelter that I find in shapes, whether a small space that protects or a big one that opens to welcome one.

Fig. 2. Helene Gauthier, Femme Livre (Woman Book), lime-tree wood, 1.7 m high, 1985. (? Helene Gauthier. Photo ? Paul Samsovici.) Fig. 2. Helene Gauthier, Femme Livre (Woman Book), lime-tree wood, 1.7 m high, 1985. (? Helene Gauthier. Photo ? Paul Samsovici.)

talk of the social context, of the subject, of its psychological content, of tech- talk of the social context, of the subject, of its psychological content, of tech-

Artists' Statements 113 Artists' Statements 113



Fig. 3. Helene Gauthier, Piliers (Pillars), cedar, 2.8 m high, 1996-1998. (? Helene Gauthier. Photo ? Paul Samsovici.)

Later, when I encountered the plas- ter "dwellings" of Etienne Martin, I did not know how to face them, but I felt a vibration like a flight of bees, including even the sound! Etienne Martin devel-

oped the idea that the body is the shelter of the soul, the house the shelter of the body, the world the shelter of hu- mans. He approached materials with a freedom that can come only from one who is within himself a Hindu (Sivaiste) who knows that life is also in matter.

I also saw that Rodin used the body as architecture in the Bourgeois de Calais, where the people made a ram-

part of their bodies in order to protect each other.

To Dream in Matter I love wood, for it makes me think of trees, their size, the protection of their branches, the shelter they offer me. I

try to give them life again in my own way, to rediscover this feeling of protection.

What I like in the direct act of cut-

ting is that there is no way to correct mistakes and that one must think to the very heart of the material. I begin to think of the wood's previous life. I have a piece of yew that is 500 years old. When working on it, I am working with the period of the Renaissance. That im-

presses me enormously.

Towards More Personal Work I have always been fascinated by faces. To do a portrait is to render the very in- dividual architecture of a face, the life of its look and expressions. It is never

perfect, but one can hope to give an idea of the personality and of the rela-

tionship between sculptor and subject. All of this is nourished by the study

of nature, the architecture of each being, each person's way of moving, of

presenting herself. I love the personage in Egyptian mythology of Nout, a woman in a dress of stars who gives birth to the sun every morning and swallows him every evening. She seems to me a reassuring and feminine image

of the celestial vault. I created two por- traits in wood to represent her. In one, we, the earth and the planets are in her arms; in another, Nout, she is a trunk standing pierced through by the sun. Femme Livre (Woman Book) (Fig. 2) is another portrait of a great lady.

The Columns of an Imaginary Temple When I start work on one of my Piliers (Pillars) (Fig. 3), I first create four vertical slits, which will shape it: one in front, one behind (this rear one deter-

mining the main movement) and one on each side. When I make a deep cut, it may seem brutal, but it is a gesture of love. I try to force myself to look up, as I feel the proper dimension of the pillar is always taller than I am.

In the beginning, facing each piece, I am afraid, intimidated. It is a piece of nature, which becomes architecture, humanized. What will be my relation-

ship with it? At first, I am the one who decides, then after a certain time it is the sculpture that takes command. Some sculptures show themselves faster than others.

Each pillar has its own scheme, its own climate. Although I did not design them together, they take shape and live close together. Eventually they come to make an ensemble in no particular order. They touch each other like trees in a forest.

The pillars: 1. The first takes up the theme of the

Gynecea and forms its quintessence. It is constricted.

2. The second catches the clouds and crowns itself with them.

3. The third is a memory of the bo- tanical garden of my childhood. It evokes the exoticism of the peacock's cries, of the monkeys' and the el- ephants' yellings.

4. The fourth is the protection of a

wing that stretches out over one. 5. The fifth represents a long dream

I had, of facing the queens of the Lux-

embourg. 6. The sixth is strong, well set up. It

closes a door on its mystery. 7. The seventh is a youthful column

capital, in the shape of an arch. 8. The eighth is so full that it over-

flows with fullness. The columns are the basis of an un-

known series to follow.

114 Artists' Statements



reflections of a sculptor

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