Been out of town the past ten plus days, hence the lack of new material here. Attended my brother’s wedding and sister’s graduation. Here are a couple of photos representative of the trip:

We drive home tomorrow and I’m glad there’s nothing travel-related on the schedule at this point until December. It’s been a very busy Spring.

I just learned of San Francisco startup Ponoko via TechCrunch. I’m still trying to understand the details, but the concept rocks.

From what I can tell so far this is the premise. Upload your design for a product and Ponoko, which has a factory in San Francisco, will make it for you. You can sell your blueprints for other people to make and can also use the website to market your designs, which Ponoko will build and ship to you to ship to the purchaser — at least that’s how I’ve understood the process up to this point. The home page of their website shows links that direct to Your own personal factory (”How to make”) or and an Online showroom (”How to sell”).

They claim the process of on demand creation will cut down on the waste of overproduction, and also grants the desires of shoppers who may not find exactly what they are after in the aisles of big box retailers, lined with mass produced products. A service definitely worth checking out. I might try it out and see if I can’t successful plug my table design which I referred to earlier this week.

Tim Jones over at Old World Swine responded to a commenter’s comments in his most recent post, The Nekkid Truth, Too. The conversation touched on some thoughts I’ve had in the last couple years, but up to this point had yet to put down. I’m using his entry as inspiration, thus, and putting the keys to the html editor.

Let’s get started with this statement from The Nekkid Truth:

God made us men to be attracted to the female form (I consider it his best work, the pinnacle of physical creation), so that is something to accept and to be grateful for. To acknowledge the attraction and the beauty is no sin, in itself.

The commenter is, through the course of the post, expressing a desire to appreciate masterful works of art which include nudity. However, he struggles with this on account of men’s predilection towards lust, the most common affliction of the fallen male.

The question that burns me personally is how, as a fallen male, do I distinguish admiration from something more perverse? Can I? Is there a black and white line marking the difference between, in Jones’ words, the desire to “possess” a woman and thinking — in overly simplified terms — “She’s gorgeous!” Do men possess the ability to admire without lusting?

As a man and an artist intrinsically interested in all things aesthetic, all ideas and ideals of beauty, this question intrigues me to no end. And I realize, however unfortunate for my own mental well-being, there may not be an end to wrangling with these questions in this mortal life. I struggle interminably with whether or not I can have a pure thought at all, often wondering if everything that goes through my mind related to the female physique isn’t tainted. I constantly reassure myself that this is not the case, but the concern doesn’t go away. Can a man actually think about a woman in a way, however mild, that isn’t perverse? (And I don’t ask this solely in the context of sexuality, although this is the greatest temptation.). Some people may think this last question is a bit off the rocker, but I would counter by suggesting that none of us really know what is Holy well enough to determine what thoughts in our human minds may or may not be completely pure.

Last year my wife and I visited with friends recently returned from a vacation in Singapore. They talked about how it is illegal, against the written law, for men to ogle at women in that country. While he genuinely appreciated the attempt at a modest culture — and thoroughly enjoyed his visit to such a law-abiding society — our friend also understood the problems with trying to legislate such things. He likened what he saw to a police state.

I long to view all of God’s creation with the eye that He intended. Laws, such as those apparently in effect in Singapore, will not change the fallen mind. They will not allow me or anyone else to overcome human tendencies to pervert, basically, everything we think or do. While my attitude may come across as a bit fatalistic, let me assure you that I still strive for and hope to see as much of the glory of God’s creation — including the female form — before I die. This pursuit constantly drives my work in the studio, even if it isn’t obvious in the forms or titles of my sculpture.

Adding: As Jim points out in the first comment, the Titian above is worth some commentary: “The clothed woman is believed to represent earthly vanity and materialistic love, the nude to represent higher, pure love. A casual observer might think it was the other way around.” See a few more details on Wikipedia.

See my other entries dealing with women and beauty via this link.

Costa Rican artist Guillermo Vargas Habacuc recently used a dog in a gallery exhibit. The internet is aflurry with protests. I noticed in Facebook today some friends joined a group encouraging people to sign a petition against such future exhibits, which is where I learned of the artist in the first place.

I did a little digging — namely following link to link from the Facebook group page — and was quickly confused. Information just isn’t matching up here. For starters, some people are saying the dog, reportedly a stray from the streets of Managua, Nicaragua, was starved to death as part of the original exhibition (which is what the Facebook group in question purports). A number of other resources, including the gallery owner, claim the dog was only on display for three hours and was fed regularly by the artist himself when not part of the exhibit. Further, the Wikipedia page on the artist says that he was born in 1975. Another link I found — a dubious URL at http://GuillermoHabacucVargas.blogspot.com — complained about the artist changing his statements, the most recent of which quoted him saying “I am 50 years old.”

At this point I decided the chance of finding any really reliable information was unlikely (Although I do put a lot of faith, personally, in Wikipedia, and believe this is probably the most accurate representation of the circumstances that I read.), and had become more interested in how a story could spread so quickly and inaccurately via the Web. I fear people become too emotionally involved. When presented with a certain kind of story or anecdote, they believe the first thing they hear.

I don’t know what happened in that gallery, but at this point (sadly) it doesn’t matter. If the artist was after publicity, he got it. If he was trying in earnest to make a point, it’s been lost in the impassioned pleas of dog lovers who don’t seem to be remotely concerned with factual inconsistencies surrounding the event.

I really like the internet, particularly email, Facebook, blogging and live radar on Wunderground.com. But above all I love the internet’s ability to bring people together. The aforementioned group is bringing people together, more than 500,000 so far. Unfortunately, the cause isn’t verifiable. People may be putting a lot of energy into a whole lot of nothing.

In a world where information is more and more prevalent, it’s more and more difficult — regardless of the source — to determine what is the best kind of information. One week eggs are bad for you, the next they’re not. Atkins diet this month, South Beach the next. You get the picture; you’re probably living it. Trying to make sense of the massive amount of information presented to us on a daily basis is a real talent.

Not ceramics or sculpture this time, but furniture. My brother asked me to build a bed; he gets married this coming weekend. As a wedding gift I’m throwing in some side tables to match.

I like building furniture, but don’t make a habit of it since I really don’t have the necessary space or tools. I have friends with table-saws, my garage is narrow and the ceiling short. Somehow I manage, but the tables above aren’t as square as I’d like. The door I’m currently using as my workbench top is anything but level. For clay this is fine; not so much for building beds. Of course, only I, the builder, will ever notice such details.

This is soft maple, which I haven’t used before — at least not on this scale. It responds pretty nicely to the tools, but I’m learning it doesn’t take stain very well. This has become problematic as my brother and his fiance are adamant about a dark stain. It was hard enough to find maple in the first place. They would have been OK with another wood, but I kept looking and finally found a place here in Northwest Arkansas that sells hardwoods other than oak and poplar. So I ran with the maple.

The other trick will be transporting it to Nebraska, where the wedding is and bride and groom reside. The pieces should just fit in our Camry wagon as I’ve measured. But paying for shipping didn’t seem like a reasonable option in this case.

I like my design for the side tables. The small shelf underneath the top acts to reinforce the legs, and essentially “floats” in notches I carved by hand. The hand-carving went really well, much better than in the past thanks to some better tools and more experience under my belt. I also mortised and tenonned the legs and footboard more or less by hand. I like working when I can without the aid of powered machines. I don’t have anything against a table saw or drill press (both of which I’ve used for this project), but there is something much more rewarding about taking a chisel and mallet in your hands and working the wood.

The tops of the table, as well as the stone detail in the center stile of the headboard as pictured above, will be travertine marble.

If only we had need for something like this in the states.

This is the second article I’ve read this week about Yale student Aliza Svhart’s senior project, er, performance. Reportedly, she artificially inseminated herself using voluntary donors while ovulating, and would later induce a miscarriage using an herbal method. The result of this performance will be a hanging installation making use of cellophane and video of the miscarriages.

The aforementioned Wall Street Journal article says it well, “Immaturity, self-importance and a certain confused earnestness will always loom large in student art work. But they will usually grow out of it. What of the schools that teach them?” The thrust of the Journal’s article seems to revolve around the educational aspect of art colleges. It suggests that most programs will begin by running students through basic drawing courses before channeling them into emphasis such sculpture or printmaking. Courses should, writer Michael J. Lewis contends, become increasingly challenging. This was my own experience, and also that of my brother who is a painter. I can’t imagine any reputable program diverging much from such a model without very good reason.

Another important point offered by Lewis notes the importance of two professorial archetypes key to the education of an artist: “It is often said that great achievement requires in one’s formative years two teachers: a stern taskmaster who teaches the rules and an inspirational guru who teaches one to break the rules. But they must come in that order.” I don’t think many aspiring artists realize the importance of rules, which are key to respectable craft and discipline. The young painter or sculptor’s ideas often outpace their ability to actually create a successful work of art. Further, the romantic notions surrounding working as a successful artist aren’t normally realistic. Professional artists need discipline, organization and so on.

Aliza Shvarts. Disarticulation. 12 in. x 12 in. x 24 in. Plaster, vaseline, towels, rubber bands, latex gloves. Photo from the Yale website.