[meteorite-list] "Meteorite" Sculpture by Katie Paterson

From: Peter Davidson <P.Davidson_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2014 09:20:38 +0000
Message-ID: <576F2B74A34E584AA173B40D1A8914C336C8B45B_at_NMSMAIL01.nms2k.int>

Daniel

No argument from me that we should leave the original entirely as it was found, no matter what that object is.

Yet, we see and read about this happening all the time. Across the northern part of England (and I mean England here and not the UK), the Romans built a large structure (it is, or was, about 120km long and reached a height of 3.5m) which has become known as Hadrian's Wall. It purpose was to mark the boundary of the Roman Empire at that time as well as act as a defensive barrier to keep those nasty Scots out (it failed and we got through easily enough!). Yet as soon as the Romans left, the local populace began to plunder and remove its finely wrought stonework for use as building stone. From our viewpoint in 2014, we are rightly appalled that this wonderful work has been plundered and destroyed to be remade into farm buildings and walls. Yet, who are we to criticise these people for utilising such a wonderful, ready-made supply of cut stone in order to enhance their lives (believe me life in that part of Britain would have been very hard - it still is)? Also are we right to criticise the Inuit for using metal
 taken from the Cape York meteorite (and possibly others as well) to fashion into harpoons and tools or indeed the ancient Egyptians for collecting Libyan desert glass to create jewellery for the Pharaohs?

Cheers

Peter Davidson
Senior Curator of Minerals

National Museums Collection Centre
242 West Granton Road
Edinburgh
EH5 1JA
00 44 131 247 4283
p.davidson at nms.ac.uk


-----Original Message-----
From: Meteorite-list [mailto:meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com] On Behalf Of Daniel Noyes via Meteorite-list
Sent: 06 August 2014 17:33
To: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] "Meteorite" Sculpture by Katie Paterson

Hi Graham, Peter and All,
 
I would agree that art can be a means to challenge existing concepts and perceptions. I think the rub in this instance is the recasting of the meteorite, nature's art, into its own image; a human generated meteorite clone so to speak. To re-create it into something more removed from itself would stretch the creative boundary.
If one were to melt down an original Remington bronze sculpture and recast it as itself, does that really challenge artistic expression, and how is that different that the cheap "after" versions that one can buy that are imitations of the Remington original? Given the choice between an original work of art and its imitation, I'll take the original every time. I'm not saying there isn't some value in what Katie did, but I think the genuine meteorite would be more worthy of a trip to the space station...
 
Best regards,
Daniel

Daniel Noyes
Genuine Moon & Mars Meteorite Rocks
info at moonmarsrocks.com
www.moonmarsrocks.com

 
 
-------- Original Message --------




Message: 6
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2014 20:40:22 +0100
From: Graham Ensor <graham.ensor at gmail.com>
To: Peter Davidson <P.Davidson at nms.ac.uk>
Cc: "Meteorite List \(meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com\)"
<meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] "Meteorite" Sculpture by Katie Paterson
Message-ID:
<CAJkn+kYZOjk+oQSTy--esrnQYeVJdKLLS0tzYWw+Nj+C9frSXg at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8

Hi Peter/alas an artist myself working on more unusual projects with the Arts Council trying to find new ways of expressing ideas...trying to stretch the boundaries and asking "what is art?"...etc. I find this an interesting topic...I'm all for "art" doing what you say...but have a slight conflict here, being a meteorite collector and using much of what I know and see in meteoritics as inspiration for some of my own projects....there are so many at the moment just making/doing "art" to shock...and I don't really think that that is enough personally....and to be honest I'm not sure what she is doing is really very original...many artists have destroyed and rebuilt objects as themselves in the past in various ways....to me she is not making people think about the wonder of the object, where it comes from etc...it's more about herself....and her practice.

Now if she had prepared the meteorite in such a way to show off its wonder, or even just exhibited it in a gallery as is...rather than in a museum...then that would have asked far more questions about what art is, or what the object means...the recasting is not so much about the object...it is far more about the process and her own practice....I feel she has said far less by recasting it....but I suppose that's what art is about....it's more about the questions that a piece is asking than the answer.

Not sure what destroying something and remaking it in its own image and then sending it back to whence it came (partly) is really saying.....only those who are wise about meteorites actually understand what aspects of the object she has destroyed....most of the general public/other artists etc. will see the object as unchanged!

Graham

On Tue, Aug 5, 2014 at 3:35 PM, Peter Davidson via Meteorite-list <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com> wrote:
> Dear Lads and Lassies
>
> Thank you to those who replied to the e-mail I sent about the "meteorite" sculpture by Katie Paterson which has been sent into space. To be honest I didn't expect a positive response and that is exactly what I got. I attended a talk by Katie last Saturday (2nd August) and I actually got to handle several of the meteorites she has recast. An odd and slightly disconcerting experience I thought. We got to chatting about possible future collaborations but it remains to be seen what that might actually turn out to mean.
>
> I have always believed that it one of the purposes of art (among many other things) to challenge, shock and discomfort people and ideas by presenting the familiar in a new and unfamiliar way - to make people rethink their ideas and to challenge them to take stock of their old values. This particular project does seem to have raised a few eyebrows and rattled a few cages. I am mulling over the idea of asking Katie if I could present these items at Ensisheim one year.
>
> Cheers
>
> Peter Davidson
> Senior Curator of Minerals
>
> National Museums Collection Centre
> 242 West Granton Road
> Edinburgh
> EH5 1JA
> 00 44 131 247 4283
> p.davidson at nms.ac.uk
>
>
> Discover the treasures of China's Ming dynasty at the National Museum of Scotland.
> Ming: The Golden Empire, 27 June-19 October 2014, www.nms.ac.uk/ming
>
> National Museums Scotland, Scottish Charity, No. SC 011130 This
> communication is intended for the addressee(s) only. If you are not the addressee please inform the sender and delete the email from your system. The statements and opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of National Museums Scotland. This message is subject to the Data Protection Act 1998 and Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. No liability is accepted for any harm that may be caused to your systems or data by this message.
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This communication is intended for the addressee(s) only. If you are not the addressee please inform the sender and delete the email from your system. The statements and opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of National Museums Scotland. This message is subject to the Data Protection Act 1998 and Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. No liability is accepted for any harm that may be caused to your systems or data by this message.
Received on Thu 07 Aug 2014 05:20:38 AM PDT