Rodes-Smithey Blog

2/26/2009

This website now has a dedicated 'Flights' section and several new sculptures in that series. Each of the Flight sculptures explores some question related to movement. We call the series 'Flights' because flying embodies the greatest freedom to move in any direction.

2/25/2009

A long time ago, while I suffered through the last three years of high school, I was lucky enough to witness the installation of a collection of modern sculpture on the grounds of a small university in Washington State. The sculptures were created by some of the most famous artists in the country, including Richard Serra, Anthony Caro, and Isamu Noguchi. At the time I knew nothing of these people and nothing about their art, but I could see something vastly important in the work they were doing. Watching these sculptures transform the grounds of the college, and ignite a debate about what constituted art, fascinated me. I saw how a humble patch of torn over ground left behind by the construction of a campus building could be changed into the embodiment of a question for which no one had an answer and for which there really never could be a single corrrect answer. I liked that. I liked the idea that these objects could impact the life of every person who encountered them in a way that was peculiarly unique to that person. And I liked the fact that these encounters took place outside, unexpectedly, away from any museum or gallery context.

I now know a lot more about how and why these artists created their pieces but what still impresses me the most is the spirit of questioning these sculptures sparked within me. That’s really what art is about. Art questions everything and when it’s successful it instills those questions in the people who encounter it.

That’s how we approach the business of creating art, I think. We come to the raw material with a question. What does it mean when I shape a piece of steel in a particular way? How does the form I create change the way I look at the world around me? We transform the metal so that it can transform the world in some tiny unpredictable way.


Home Portfolio Openings Compositions Flights Constructions Galleries Artist Statement Contact	Blog 2/26/2009 This website now has a dedicated 'Flights' section and several new sculptures in that series. Each of the Flight sculptures explores some question related to movement. We call the series 'Flights' because flying embodies the greatest freedom to move in any direction. 2/25/2009 A long time ago, while I suffered through the last three years of high school, I was lucky enough to witness the installation of a collection of modern sculpture on the grounds of a small university in Washington State. The sculptures were created by some of the most famous artists in the country, including Richard Serra, Anthony Caro, and Isamu Noguchi. At the time I knew nothing of these people and nothing about their art, but I could see something vastly important in the work they were doing. Watching these sculptures transform the grounds of the college, and ignite a debate about what constituted art, fascinated me. I saw how a humble patch of torn over ground left behind by the construction of a campus building could be changed into the embodiment of a question for which no one had an answer and for which there really never could be a single corrrect answer. I liked that. I liked the idea that these objects could impact the life of every person who encountered them in a way that was peculiarly unique to that person. And I liked the fact that these encounters took place outside, unexpectedly, away from any museum or gallery context. I now know a lot more about how and why these artists created their pieces but what still impresses me the most is the spirit of questioning these sculptures sparked within me. That’s really what art is about. Art questions everything and when it’s successful it instills those questions in the people who encounter it. That’s how we approach the business of creating art, I think. We come to the raw material with a question. What does it mean when I shape a piece of steel in a particular way? How does the form I create change the way I look at the world around me? We transform the metal so that it can transform the world in some tiny unpredictable way.

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