Sunday, August 19, 2007

A part for a machine that makes a part for a machine.



Well, as you can see, the baby is coming along nicely.
You can tell it is mine by it's size and composition, large and bronze.

Can you believe this thing!? Someone had a vision, and this was their vision.
Did you know that there is a place out in the "country side", it is upstate a bit, and it is a foundry where they make these kinds of sculptures.
It is a very impressive place, lots of different things going on in that building.
In the middle of nowhere.
NOWHERE!
After visiting the foundry on work related business, I realized some things.

One: this is a very involved process that requires lots of man hours and labor to make something like this. No matter how much I would want to have a hand in it's creation, it is just too big a task for one person.
Even after realizing this, I feel a bit let down by the fact that the artist turns the project over to a crew to basically build the artist's "vision", and this hands off approach seems sort of like cheating or something.
I mean, this looks like a thing that involves heat and sparks and fumes and steam, molten metal and sand and machines.
Danger!
So the least you could do is chip in and put yourself in the shit so in case anything goes wrong, you are there.
Right?
It is a job for these other guys, but it is the artist's "passion" or something. Not to mention, this crew is getting paid probably an hourly wage, and while it might be better than working a fast food job, it is definitely not anything compared to the money you get from selling a piece like this to the corporation that bought it.
I really like heavy things, metal and stone.
A large log.
I would like to make something big and heavy, I like how it sounds in my mind.
But if it was something that was like this, I would want as much a part of it's creation as the foundry's insurance policy would allow.

Two: I Think there are certain things that no matter what, I have to hand it over to human kind for really stepping up and making something amazing.
Like a bridge.
Like the Williamsburg bridge by my house.
I was sitting underneath it last night and looking up at it.
It got me thinking about something I was talking to Truen about one time, it was a phrase or something close to it:
"A machine to make a part for a machine to make a part for a machine to make a part...."
Something starts out small and ends up being part of something much bigger.
The industrial revolution is what is responsible for my awe I guess.
Someone had a job to make something, say it was a nail or screw.
They start out doing it by hand, but eventually they (or a group of people) come up with an idea for a simple machine or tool to make their job easier.
And from there it just compounds, it rolls over and over getting exponentially bigger with every turn.
So many pieces go into the bridge, so many different specialized processes and skills and trades.
Materials and ideas, built on the history of building so many bridges before it.

I feel like I am screaming inside my head right now, my brain is out of breath.

...

Well, I guess the point is that I am amazed by what human kind has accomplished sometimes.
A bridge can be very simple, or very complex, but no matter what it is, it is way better than any bridge I ever seen a monkey build.

I am going to drink some water and lay down.
be good guys,lovnethwer

No comments:

Post a Comment

No dick heads please.