Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Alexander Calder


"The universe is real but you can't see it.  You have to imagine it.  Once you imagine it, you can be realistic about reproducing it."





















American Sculptor


1898 - 1976













Untitled, 1968

Centro Cultural de Belem

Lisbon, Portugal


Art and literature are created at the point where the universe meets the imagination.  The way we know the external world is through our senses.  Our minds interpret what they see, feel, hear, smell and taste and create the world we imagine to be there.  Even the most realistic painter or novelist interprets the world he sees with his imagination.  Even the most imaginative artist finds the beginning of his creation in the universe.





What is the universe that you see in your mind's eye?  What fantasies do you imagine to be real in your mind?  Art is always an interpretation of the world.  It is never the world.  It is never reality.  It is a pretend world that we believe to be true.