brief sculptures of parts

September 23
2023 cast handmade abaca paper, pigmented, bamboo inclusion, painted plywood & foamboard, fabric wrapped wire 3.5’ x 3.5’ x 3’ Dimensions vary with each rearrangement.

Every day we’ll choose some objects that we’ve made, and we’ll work with them. Compose with them. Stack them or bind or balance them together. If need be, we’ll skewer them to the foam-board tabletop or wall to make them stand up & stay put.

We’ll rearrange these parts to find the sculptures that we can make with these parts. Rearrange a little or a lot. Small adjustments or “let’s start over again.”

Below are 6 more different arrangements of the objects used in the piece above.

We photograph each arrangement (there’s no telling if it’s a sculpture or a pile of objects until later) before the parts are rearranged some more (or occasionally - before the arrangement falls apart.)

We look at the photos later to see if we made simple variations of the same damned thing or a series of sculptures that call & respond to each other.

Next day, use the same objects or swap all or some of them out for others. After choosing, then compose, rearrange, photograph, look.

This gallery is 22 momentary sculptures - 2 views of each.

 

how we work.

We select a couple of objects from among the many we’ve made. Then we compose with them on the wall, floor, tabletop or from the ceiling. We deal with compositional variations as seen in the images above. We’ll photograph the results we like and rearrange.

We create our sculptures by cobbling together the objects we make.

Most objects have some handmade paper. Other materials provide visual and structural support like wire, bamboo, fiberglass, plywood, foam board and rocks.

For exhibits, all those clips, clamps & cords get replaced by invisible connectors like earth magnets, monofilament and velcro.

How we work (for illustration purposes only - we’re never this tidy) We make a lot of handmade paper objects often combined with other materials. We make our sculptures by combining/arranging/composing those objects together like those on the table. If it’s interesting we photograph it. Then the piece comes apart and the objects return to the inventory.

Use, Undo, Reuse

The sculptures are usually temporary. The paper objects (examples) and the other materials are not and get used and reused. We document each sculpture, hopefully show it, maybe sell it. If we still own it, we’ll take it apart and use the component parts to make newer and newer works. We can recreate a piece if needed though a reimagining is the more likely result. (When most works are together only a few days or often a few minutes, documentation of the useful how-did-we-make-that kind requires much luck.)

Sheet pulling, object making and sculpture building happen all the time a couple of yards apart.

Someone wrote -

that Matisse’s paper cutouts are without “finality and finish;” they flourish in “a state of perpetual deferral.” We like that insight.

It is always about the art.

Our works are abstract. Their meaning for us is what the pieces resonate as we work through their incompleteness. The objects we make are made to be used. They are mute. When part of a sculpture, they contribute gesture and meaning. When as a body of work, it’s always about the art.

Our collaboration is almost seamless.

We are Barbara Landes & Paul Sullivan. We have shared several studios since 1997 and been collaborating since 2015. about us

Thank you for looking at our site.  LandesSullivan @ gmail.com