tony orrico

 This past semester I took a drawing class. Sure, I can draw a figure and a still life, but I've had trouble trying to figure out how to integrate drawing into my studio practice. So many people say it's a critical exercise for a sculptor, but even so... there a a number of ways to put it into practice. Some sculptors draw out their plans for sculptures. Others create finished drawings that are pieces on their own, still relating back to representations of their sculptures. But then there are artists who take a different approach to drawing. I think of the famed sculptor Richard Serra, who makes very process-based drawings, which I fine quite interesting. "Drawing is a verb" says Serra.

I really like this quote I found HERE that discusses my very dilemma...

"Process, and the trace of that process, are integral to drawing. The action used to make a mark becomes that mark. The drawing is an image of an action. The visual marks made by sound, the doing and undoing of a mark, the space of a mark, at their core all have the essence of an action.

A drawing and a sculpture, there is no clear line between the two. Some sculptures are three dimensional drawings. What begins as a drawing can become a sculptural object. A conversation develops between the two dimensional and the three dimensional. Materials used for making sculpture are used for drawing - so plastic tubing used within a sculpture is then dipped in ink and used as a drawing tool - and the sculpture and the drawing become part of each other. Discovering how an object draws itself is a way of understanding the essence of that object."

So, this this brings me to the drawings/performances of Tony Orrico, which have ignited this entire dialogue. I wish I had been exposed to these in drawing class. One day when I'm a grown-up (ha), if I ever have to opportunity to teach a drawing class (or some sort of special topics class), I would love to assign projects that are performative and process-based. The possibilities are endless, and the creative potential is without bounds. Check out these videos of Tony Orrico... they are utterly mesmerizing.