Sculpture with a Torch by John Rood (review)

88 Books to give visible form to what is essentially invisible is what marks the creative process of the greatest of these men; not ‘deliberate obscurity’. And this is true even of Gorky camouflaging the precious information, of Pollock looking at us through eye sockets of a bleached skull, of Oldenburg sewingsoft parables. As we touch back to our roots, back to intimate and delicate contact with the ground, the problem for the artist has been to recycle that elemental chaos into a new unity, hence a formal language that is necessarily novel. We have trouble understanding it not because it is intrinsically obscure but because it is unfamiliar. Nor is the seeming crudity of the new language to be understood as a rejection of craftsmanship. It is rather an unavoidable concomitant of new discovery and a signal of the rejection of a system so well polished with good use that the gears no longer mesh. Allen Weller’s final statements imply that those who would participate fully in ‘. . .the reality in which we are living’ will turn from the dead machine and will share with the artists the excruciating and rewarding work of new exploration and new expression. Sculpture with a Torch. John Rood. Minnesota Paperbacks, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis , 1968. 103 pp., illus., $2.95. Oxford University Press, London. 26s. Reviewed by: Harold Cousins* ‘. . .The artist is first of all a gainsayer. He confronts his time and opposes his work to i t . . .’ This quotation is taken from The Sculpture of this Century by Michel Seuphor and thus John Rood introduces us to Sculpture with a Torch. The author begins with a sort of raison d’gtre for welded sculpture. He feels that welding is an industrial technique that belongs to our time,just as carving and modelling reflectedan earlier epoch, and finds that young people adapt with surprising ease to its use. Rood recognizes that some older sculptors , schooled in classic methods, are disturbed by what they consider a ‘short-cut’ approach to the art. However, he believes that if the final results best mirror our time, there is no valid argument against the technique. After discussing the philosophical intent behind the work of several well-known metal sculptors, there is a chapter on oxyacetylene welding as a a sculptural technique. He points out that though the method of welding may be quickly learned by a beginner, it is the sculptor with broad experience who gets the best results. He writes very humanly of the problems and accidents that befell him as a novice-problems that I think most sculptorwelders have experienced. He rightly counsels that many of the industrial skills, indispensable to a job-welder, must not be allowed to destroy the personal calligraphy of the artist. There isa good chapter on equipment. Theauthor is direct: get a good supply dealer. He will save you money in the end. Illustrations are shown of the ~- ~- * 46 Place du Chatelain, Brussels 5, Belgium. essential equipment needed (oxygen and acetylene tanks, gauges, torches, etc.) and each part is explained . After describing the cutting torch and its operation, the reader is introduced to oxyacetylene welding. Rood cautions novice sculptors to respect materials, for example, not to use the welding torch to imitate bronze. After a brief chapter on brazing, the author provides an amply illustrated section on the step-by-step development of a welded sculpture. There follow many hints on finishes and patinas, including formulae for the latter. Arc welding is covered next. Rood feels that, though sometimes desirable, its use for sculpture is rather limited. After considering the problems of large works in an architectural setting, he defends the use of small metal sketches for presenting an idea to a client. The following chapter on possible welding techniques gives an excellent insight into the author’s sources and manner of working. However, his somewhat cavalier appraisal of ‘construction’ in welded sculpture, is to be regretted. This well-illustrated section shows many facets of his work and is followed by a ‘sculpture gallery’, of work being done in metal by others in the U.S.A. He concludes his book with a list of safety rules that are...