Mark di Suvero
Artworks
Dreamtime by the river’s edge,
with skyscrapers’ skyline matching clouds’
feeds the inner eye; root to the tree of art.
Because we changed this garbage—
land into a sculpture park
the people of this community live with new hope.
These are the dimensions of art,
of sculpture, of jazz:
to give us the energy of hope, the
embrace of paradox, the
overcoming of despair.
These our sculptures are made to
wake us to an ecstatic life of the spirit.
The unity-rapport between people forest0fire fighting, or working together against flood or earthquake is one of the most beautiful parts of human nature. At Socrates Sculpture Park I have seen artists helping other artists, the community working to build a park out of a city dump-site, neighbors giving materials, money, space, or physical effort on a volunteer basis. This is one of the most powerful forces of city: constructive cooperation born directly out of a community. If New York City could multiply this type of thinking and action then New York could become beautiful and civilized. (paragraph break) In this sculpture park, this riverfront space with skyscraper horizon, sculptors have met the challenge of their dreams, open spaces and whatever materials we could afford to provide. Just as any expert crane operator works with the invisible poihnt we call center of gravity (and not the volume appearance) so too the real artits works with inner beauty in search for forms in dreamtime. Inner beauty is the true value of sculpture. People have it too: look around you at the people in your life, beyond the cosmetic external surface. Do you recognize those who have inner beauty?
From the excitement-span of bridges to the up-rush of skyscrapers, from the thunder of subways to the thousands of millions of cars rolling all over the country, all are the forms of human need in steel. To draw in the sky with color, to dream and make the dream come true, to give outreach to life-structures is to be at the roots-origins of music and sculpture. Music’s space shares something with abstract sculpture’s space, an emotion-color, as if the time of music is the space of sculpture. The dancing brilliance-by-the-water of Venice, light-on-the-water of Vivaldi, give what we want: the newness of life-joy at Socrates Sculpture Park. We can make life with harmony with each other. We can turn a garbage dump into a park. The answer is: in helping other’s imagination, the will to try to reach the vision, and the perseverance beyond negativity, despondency and depression. The power of being is ampified by a knowledge of the truth.
