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Looking at a sculpture with receptivity to interpret what it represents Interview with Flavius Pisapia by Sahya Samson How did you look at an artwork before your artistic training? There are many ways to view a work of art. I like to think of art observation as meeting a living being and trying to keep as open to the experience as possible. Before my anthroposophical art training, I used to walk into a gallery and look at abstract sculpture as any other object. My mind would automatically start making associations to what it knew, staying within my preconceptions. I would immediately start labelling parts of the sculpture in reference to the human body: “that looks like a head… that looks like a leg…” This is a natural way of looking, because both abstract and figurative art take their building blocks from the same source. Why do you feel abstract art observation needs a more layered approach? Many artworks I admire have their starting point in a higher world than the physical materials that embody them. What may look like a head may be portraying the energy of the head. (1) What enlivens the body is different from the body itself, which we can observe as a flow of energy. In my view, abstract sculpture is best seen as pure form, energy at rest. Holding back associations related to the physical body helps us see the abstract work in its higher reality stripped of preconceived notions derived from figurative art. “Beginning with an identification of the formal elements of a work and description of their roles in the overall composition helps us orient ourselves within the bounds of the work of art.” –Virginia Seymour, JSTOR (2) How do you begin connecting with a sculpture? I start with a precise observation of what can be weighed, measured, and numbered, to anchor myself in the work. Physical properties like colour, shape, geometry, size, weight, texture give me a framework to grasp its pure forms. The longer I hold back from making associations and labelling things, the more open I am to meeting the artwork for what it is at this stage. Though I orient myself to what I'm looking at physically, I do not need to stop there. My art training at Tobias School of Art and Hoathly Hill Sculpture Studio instilled the importance of art observation as an essential part of art practice. “In our sense perception we usually do not complete the circle. We look out and we see and feel ourselves (…) The question usually is: how do I feel doing this or that? (…) When training our senses the process is enhanced: from feeling only ourselves we begin to feel “it” the object, the process, the sculpture, etc.” – Gertraud Goodwin (3) Should Viewing Artwork Be Transformative? As I work my way upwards from the physical elements, I open myself to something new to meet me; it may teach or tell me something for which I may not be prepared. I can be startled or even shocked. I need the courage to leave my comfort zone and really look at the sculpture as if it were a living being. When I look at a work from the point of view of pure form, I am not looking at it in strict anatomical terms but its qualities in four stages progressing from physical, energy, feeling, and essence or individuality. Art Observation of Henry Moore’s Reclining Figure, 1951, in 4 Stages  Henry Moore, Reclining Figure, 1951, Plaster and string on a wood base (Image from Tate.org.uk) (4) Physical Characteristics What are some physical characteristics that you can observe? Looking at the left side of the sculpture, I'm seeing two cone shapes coming sharply out of the base at an angle. The shapes expand to the right, arching gently upwards, becoming bigger and heavier downwards. The left side of the sculpture is rooted, heavy and has a sense of gravity. The right side of the sculpture has an opposite gesture. The right side, starting from the very top, I see a form that is open to the air and light-filled space above it. From there the whole right side of the sculpture is as if pulled upwards by a sense of levity towards the space above it. The forms on the right side are lighter and push any sense of heaviness upwards with ease. The middle part of the sculpture is a dynamic transition space between these two very different qualities of gravity on the left and levity on the right. Texturally, there is also a contrast between the smooth cream colored forms of the sculpture and the engraved thin lines on the surface. The lines are approximately one centimeter in height and their lengths vary depending on where they are engraved on the sculpture. The lines are divided in two categories: main lines engraved along the sculpture and secondary lines mostly perpendicular to the main lines, which emphasize the organic forms.
Energy Characteristics How would you describe the energy of this form? Lines radiate from a pinpoint from above, pouring into all its undulating shapes. The flow goes top-down, splitting and uniting, thin to thick, in a one-two rhythm; it collects and organizes itself within textured lines. Midway on the form to the right the energy intensifies in circular forms with pooling vortexes, which radiate further down the form.
Feeling Characteristics If I step into the form, how do I feel? Sahya: Repose, Receive, Release. Flavius: Relaxed, Open, Interested, Grounded, Stable, and Peaceful.
Essence and Identity What does it tell me about itself? The fourth stage may uncover a creative flow in the viewer to write a poem, dance, or make a sketch of the encounter!  Making A Personal Connection With Abstract Sculpture
Absorbing an artwork for its own sake helps us receive what it has to tell us. It takes inner activity and gradual identification with the sculpture, to push beyond what we know into direct experience. Starting from the surface and diving deeper into its energy, feeling, until approaching the center of its being. References
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