Page 28 - Studio International - March 1969

justifying my observations) it started at St Martin's reminders in it. And I think therefore one tries
Correspondence as figurative (although I do not believe it was in really to get a material with not too much art
any way academic) and progressed to my present history in it.'
non-figurative work slowly, at the dictates of my Unfortunately clay does carry with it a ponderous
personal development some time after leaving the backlog of craft and terracotta tradition, but for a
Art School. I make no claims as a spectacular in- number of reasons, not least of which are the
novator and I do not know what place, if any, my activities and work of a group of painters, sculptors
work will occupy in the history of contemporary and ceramists who gathered around Peter Voulkos
sculpture, yet I am attempting to push my work in Los Angeles and who, much affected by Abstract
forward on two levels: first in a period which des- Expressionist painting, set about breaking down the
pises monumentality, I want to work on a scale traditional (pre-)concepts which so seriously
which encroaches on the territory, and possibly at limited the use of clay.
times on the functions of architecture, and second, Further liberating factors were technical advances
in a climate which seems to me to encourage in the development of epoxies and acrylic paints,
superficiality, I am seeking to attain depth. I feel which in terms of form, colour and scale have given
both these aims to be far from reactionary and at the material a new lease of life, opening the way to
least as worthy of attention as the efforts of some of all kinds of new possibilities with the medium.
my contemporaries collectively chasing the phan- One of the articles which followed the symposium
tom of each new fashion or trying desperately to in your January issue, and dealt with some recent
initiate them. sculpture in Britain, whilst describing sculptures
Tony Bottell in sand, oranges, etc. {incidentally not dissimilar
Sculpture at St Martin's Head of Sculpture, from the efforts of Nauman, Andre and others on
Woolwich Institute
London, S.E.18 the West Coast), failed to comment upon the
Dear Sir, emerging movement towards clay sculpture. The
In the January issue of Studio International you question remains therefore as to whether sculpture
devoted considerable attention to St Martin's in clay is to be viewed at the Craftsman-Potter
`Advanced Sculpture Course' and the work of the West Coast clay level, or whether a more enlightened directorship
two generations of sculptors who have emerged of Britain's public galleries will give a viewing to
from it, under the wing of Tony Caro. As a sculptor Dear Sir, the sculptor who today wishes to work in clay.
who studied at St Martin's from 1957-61 (con- The seemingly indiscriminate way in which David Peter Layton
temporary to Aggis, Annesley, Bolus, Tucker, etc.), Annesley uses the phrase 'freaky West Coast shit' London S.W.11
who was not drawn into Caro's orbit, but who has in reference to assemblage ( January issue) has William Seitz — The Art of Assemblage. Mus. of
been inadvertently included in your articles (the prompted me to make some comment in defense of Modern Art, New York, 1961.
sculpture in the circle on the title page is one I made the work going on in California. Not that the work 2 Studio International. vol. 171, no. 873. Jan. 1966.
whilst a student there—incidentally not very good in itself necessarily needs to be defended but simply
and long since destroyed), I should like to make that one who has recently returned from a pro-
some observations. longed teaching spell in that part of the world I
Whenever mention is made of the sculptors who might imagine myself to be in a better position January issue
have emerged from St Martin's during this last than the majority of your readers to understand
decade, it inevitably centres around a certain type what it is to which Annesley refers so specifically. Dear Sir,
of work, orientated towards or stemming from the Since I find myself at a loss, I am led to believe that Thank you for the hilarious articles on recent sculp-
influence of Caro, and it never seems to occur to a survey of West Coast sculpture, preferably in the ture, it amazes me that you should take so much
anyone to consider that St Martin's might have form of an exhibition or through your columns, trouble to make your readers laugh. However, this
also produced the odd sculptor during this period, would enable people here to make their own levity must not become a habit, so I would recom-
equally deserving of interest, who has gone his own assessment. mend a return to more serious articles in the future.
way. Certainly there is an enormous amount of 'rubbish' Yours faithfully,
Perhaps there have not been all that many, after produced on the West Coast, which as it happens Robin Lord
all Caro's influence can be rather overwhelming compares rather favourably with our own brand of Shaftesbury, Dorset
and it must be increasingly difficult for any young Best British shit, but at the same time there is a
art student to go it alone and reject the collective great deal of strong and sensitive work going on,
concepts of all those who are now teaching there, exuberant perhaps, often irreverent, but with a
especially when they hold the 'aura' of being the vitality I find sadly lacking in much of the work I Old Master painting
advanced ground of sculpture in this country. see here.
What really bothers me is not what Caro or the `Assemblage' is a term adapted from Dubuffet, Dear Mr Editor,
others are doing as sculptors, this is their own con- `which would include all forms of composite art and Far too frequent to be pleasant is the reported news
cern, although I would certainly question the place modes of juxtaposition'—so writes William Seitz." that a painting is 'not genuine', which means that
claimed for them in contemporary sculpture; but So to whom, and to what; does the phrase refer ? the experts are in doubt and divided on the issue.
partly the dangers inherent in the way their con- Does Annesley's sweeping assessment mean that There have been glaring examples in dispute lately
cepts seem to have been allowed to dominate the sculptors as diverse in their approach as Peter Voul- which must be disturbing to connoisseurs and
development of so many young sculptors at St kos, John Mason, Bruce Nauman, John Chamber- purchasers alike in this day and age when values
Martin's in default of a wider ground freedom— lain, Paul Harris, Bruce Connor, William Wiley, in a pecuniary sense are rising rapidly, and why is
surely this cannot be healthy for students!— and Ed Keinholz and so on and on, who whilst working this so? Is it because it is deemed safer to invest in
also what I feel to be the deliberate ignoring of with an enormously varied range of media and such tangible assets alike to jewellery when gamb-
anyone who chooses to follow a contrary path techniques nevertheless all fit under the umbrella ling on the future?
because they do not fit into the 'Whiz Kid' image of assemblage, should give up 'their bag' and try Be that as it may, we are primarily concerned in
of the place, perhaps created—dare one suggest it , his, or is it simply a rather meaningless statement this matter on the analysis of the word 'genuine'
without cries of 'sour grapes' ?—for the greater by virtue of its lack of definition, especially as it is which, when in dispute, is the division of opinion
glory of Caro or because it suits the convenience of followed almost immediately by 'junk yards are between two schools of thought, when either can be
the reputation makers. great' — which of course they are! torn betwixt duty and loyalty towards an exhibitor
In my time Caro's influence could be counter- I was particularly interested by the comments or a personal reputation.
balanced by others who thought differently; some made about clay, but again more by what was The distinction could be so fine, not by confusion
of us were older students having first done National omitted than by what was actually said. Perhaps or deception but by an honest endeavour to speak
Service, and there did exist the circumstances in one of the most startling things to occur on the West the truth. How far is it possible to tell when dealing
which one could develop personally on a wide front; Coast is the 'breakthrough' in clay. By this I mean with the artistry of a painter of a century ago when
figurative study was still a possibility for those who in its usage and acceptance as a valid medium for time and climate can have affected it in some
wanted it, and stone, wood, clay, plaster and modern sculpture. minute manner? What of the degree of trans-
cement were readily available as well as the weld- Caro, in an interview with Andrew Forge in 19652 parency over the passage of time?
ing plant and plastics; and finally the dictates of said: 'perhaps it's impossible to make a sculpture Yours truly,
art fashion had not yet become so powerful. out of clay at this moment, at the moment it's too Francis B. Willmott
As for my own work (which is only relevant in difficult for me anyway—there are too many Birmingham 5