fall on me 2023 II
Cast beeswax
Tim Silver (b.1974) is fascinated by the human condition, impermanence and the fact of entropy. From the moment of birth things start to decay. Unlike classical sculptural forms, fall on me 2023, is decaying right here in the gallery. That's because he has cast these embracing figures out of beeswax. After a period of time, only photographs will remind us that they were here.
As I said, his sculpture represents the human condition. But do people see the faces in this embrace or the decaying "flesh"?
Tim Silver: I've been losing you
ocula.com/artists/tim-silver/video-audio/2015/02/tim-silv...(1)/
Let me add a comment that was prompted by my friend Mohamed Mohamed's point below about art as meditation:
It really takes a different attitude from the literalistic scientific mindset that dominates thinking today. Beauty takes many forms, but so many people can only see it in something obvious (like a sunset). But even a sunset is never the same twice and is quite ephemeral. That's part of the message Tim Silver has here. But even more important in my view is that to appreciate modern art we need to check our prejudices and preferences at the door and simply experience a work like this. Let it speak to us, even if we don't fully understand it or agree with the message. Humans are art creating beings, and this takes many forms. The best we can do is try to appreciate what the artist is trying to do, rather than demand they conform to our narrow definition of what beauty or art might be.
fall on me 2023 II
Cast beeswax
Tim Silver (b.1974) is fascinated by the human condition, impermanence and the fact of entropy. From the moment of birth things start to decay. Unlike classical sculptural forms, fall on me 2023, is decaying right here in the gallery. That's because he has cast these embracing figures out of beeswax. After a period of time, only photographs will remind us that they were here.
As I said, his sculpture represents the human condition. But do people see the faces in this embrace or the decaying "flesh"?
Tim Silver: I've been losing you
ocula.com/artists/tim-silver/video-audio/2015/02/tim-silv...(1)/
Let me add a comment that was prompted by my friend Mohamed Mohamed's point below about art as meditation:
It really takes a different attitude from the literalistic scientific mindset that dominates thinking today. Beauty takes many forms, but so many people can only see it in something obvious (like a sunset). But even a sunset is never the same twice and is quite ephemeral. That's part of the message Tim Silver has here. But even more important in my view is that to appreciate modern art we need to check our prejudices and preferences at the door and simply experience a work like this. Let it speak to us, even if we don't fully understand it or agree with the message. Humans are art creating beings, and this takes many forms. The best we can do is try to appreciate what the artist is trying to do, rather than demand they conform to our narrow definition of what beauty or art might be.