Page 72 - Art-Addiction

steVe toBIN

1957 born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania usA
lives and works in coopersburg, Pennsylvania, usA

Art is not just about making objects. The object created is a souvenir of the art process. Art happens in
the formation of an idea and the maturation of this idea. For me the art is the personal, emotional and mental
growth that occurs as a result of realizing an idea. The object that is created only documents this growth. so
art for me is a multilevel experience. There is a mental creativity which conceives an idea. There is emotional
creativity which are the personal feelings and emotions and the ability to elicit them. And there is physical
creativity which is the intuitive expression of the body. The space between the mental, emotional and physical
is often a difficult one to cross. Many of my concepts are perfected and mature as ideas. Often I can convey an
idea through words, drawings and gestures better than I can by actually making the piece. The actuality of the
piece often competes with the idea of it. Maybe some pieces exist better simply as ideas. Many ideas come to
me completed. Usually if I can completely ‘see’ a piece in my mind, then I don’t feel compelled to make it.
I make about 5 per cent of the mature ideas that are formed in my mind. I feel most driven to make the
pieces that intrigue me but are beyond my ability to fully understand. Often it will take me several years to
complete an idea.
Hopefully I will learn something about myself and the piece that will solve the mystery in the work that
eluded me. That is the motivation that I have to make a piece. I feel that my best pieces are created outside the
realm of understanding.no object is a perfect embodiment of an idea. so I will always be trying to get closer to
that perfection. But I am content with the direction my life and ideas are heading. I am moving more towards
my ideals than away from them. I feel that I am just beginning to wake up as a person.
so my contentment lies not in what I have done hut where I am going.
laNTErNa HOUsE, 2000, glAss lAntern slides h.254 x W.152 x d,203 cM. / h.10 x W.6 x d.8 Feet. 
 CHrYsalIs, 1990, glAss h. 80 cM. / h. 31½ in.

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