Reflections of a Sculptor

Artists’ Statements 113 the concept of the “random automaton ,” which consists of introducing within the automaton a random process in the choice of the conditions of neighborhood [6] and/or in the choice of the evolution of the colorimetrical state of the cell being studied [7]. This process introduces a formal adaptability that modulates the basic structure but maintains it at the same time and leads in this way to different pictures each time the program is reread. These different pictures share, however, a similar general structure compared with the previous ones, suggesting the notion of a “shape-color family.” References and Notes 1. The concept of cellular automata, a reduced form of the automata concept (from the origins of cybernetic and computer science), refers to the notion of near order, elaborated by Abraham Moles. It makes reference to the setting up of a complex order on a set of cells (i.e. pixels, since it is a digital picture) from a simple law that calculates the colorimetrical state of each pixel according to the colorimetrical state of its nearest neighbors. 2. See for instance the special section “Artificial Life Art” in Leonardo 31, No. 5 (1998). 3. B. Caillaud, “Recherche plastique et automates cellulaires,” Art-re-vision (Paris) No. 5 (November 1994) pp. 22–25. 4. Moving along the horizontal axis, the cell following the last cell on the right is none other than the first one on the left. On the vertical axis, the cell following the last one at the bottom is none other than the first one on the top. 5. Anachromose: the progressive and continuous derivation of the chromatic scale of a picture. 6. “Conditions of neighborhood” refers to conditions involving the values of the colorimetrical state of the cells nearest to the cell being examined. These conditions determine the new colorimetrical state of the cell. For example, for two colorimetrical states (black and white), if the cells on both the left and the right sides of the cell being examined are black, then the examined cell (in the middle) becomes (or remains) white. 7. For a given set of identical conditions of neighborhood , the new colorimetrical state of the cell being examined is no longer unique but can have different values determined at random. REFLECTIONS OF A SCULPTOR Hélène Gauthier, 5 rue Blanchet, 94700 Maison-Alfort, France. Manuscript received 1 June 1998. Accepted for publication by Jacques Mandelbrojt. Sculpture as Resistance to Words It is impossible to talk about sculpture. An artist may speak of an intimate need that pushes her to do certain things, may speak of her practice. Others can talk of the social context, of the subject, of its psychological content, of technique and materials. If one could explain sculpture with words, it would be useless to create it. Surely sculpture would be only virtual. Sculpture is a play between matter, form and light. It is an architecture of sensation, a presence, another “myself.” Like us, it has three dimensions. It is a bit of my “ego” set up in space. Like a live being, sculpture begins with the embryo of an idea that grows and at a certain moment escapes from the will of the sculptor. It becomes autonomous and has its own logical functioning. The interior need that pushes me to do things came to me from a rebellion against what is fractured, partial. Sculpture is a language, but only poetry says everything. The vocabulary of forms that I use comes from looking everywhere , and always. It is an omnipotent attitude that in the end conditions my life. It is a way of thinking. Of Encounters and Influences Some artists create seeds that can be developed by others. One of Picasso’s periods that inspired me was that of the giants. With Picasso’s giants I felt the sensation of protection that a child feels in the arms of an adult. The protection offered by those big bodies appears in my works as the nostalgic shelter that I find in shapes, whether a small space that protects or a big one that opens to welcome one. Fig. 2. Hélène Gauthier, Femme Livre (Woman Book), lime...