My response to several of the works by Castro Lopez was an immediate inward cringe- a kind of “ick!” while others just drew a “Huh. Wonder how he did that?” Perhaps I would be more intrigued by the pieces in person, rather than in photos but it feels as if his work violates my unconscious paradigm for “stone” by a non-representational fluidity that I’ve never seen in nature- and that does indeed feel as if it came somehow from the stone without much human craft/art. This hits some almost instinctive cognitive alarm signaling “Wrong!” Which is interesting, but rather uncomfortably so.
Whereas Rubincam’s art is viscerally “acceptable” to me on that level- I know from a lifetime of museum visits that stone can be used to express a recognizable “something” and her explanations of her thinking about the process and product are at once illuminating and relatable for me. I especially was fascinated to see some of the technical steps in her creative work flow.
My response to several of the works by Castro Lopez was an immediate inward cringe- a kind of “ick!” while others just drew a “Huh. Wonder how he did that?” Perhaps I would be more intrigued by the pieces in person, rather than in photos but it feels as if his work violates my unconscious paradigm for “stone” by a non-representational fluidity that I’ve never seen in nature- and that does indeed feel as if it came somehow from the stone without much human craft/art. This hits some almost instinctive cognitive alarm signaling “Wrong!” Which is interesting, but rather uncomfortably so.
Whereas Rubincam’s art is viscerally “acceptable” to me on that level- I know from a lifetime of museum visits that stone can be used to express a recognizable “something” and her explanations of her thinking about the process and product are at once illuminating and relatable for me. I especially was fascinated to see some of the technical steps in her creative work flow.
Very engaging post Shannon!