I have stumbled upon Marion Deuchars’ Draw Paint Print like the Great Artists in Glyptoteket’s book shop I believe. I really liked it since from the quick look it had a variety of different techniques in it. And I’ve been exploring the book and the artists featured in it since then.

This time I was completely absorbed by a whole new world that has opened up for me – the world of Eduardo Chillida (1924-2002). I must say that I can’t remember if I heard anything about him until now, I probably had, but it didn’t really stay in my memory. I am very thankful to Marion for including this artist in her book! Not only I had loads of fun first coloring the proposed shapes in the book and later trying out my own cut outs, but also I was mesmerized by Eduardo’s work.

Here are a few examples, but a simple google search will reveal a whole new universe.

I’ve read what I could find on internet about him. A Spanish Basque and mostly known for his monumental sculptures. I will explore what the local library has to offer to get to know more about him and his work. From a very quick look I was struck by two of his projects in particular.

The Basque Liberties Plaza, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Araba, Spain – I would really like to go there and experience it.

Monument to Tolerance, Fuerteventura

Made by Arup in Mount Tindaya on Fuerteventura, one of the Canary Islands. From the photos I’ve found I somehow started to think about the Fifth Element movie… It definitely goes on my “wish-to-visit” list. Although I’m not sure if the island itself has any authentic places left or it is all devastated by the tourist industry…

Just returning from the study tour with DIS students to Berlin made me very aware of the effects architecture can have. And “Chillida’s original idea was for visitors to experience the immensity of the space” made me very curious about this piece.

The wikipedia also mentions an interesting encounter between Chillida and Heidegger: “Heidegger wrote: “We would have to learn to recognize that things themselves are places and do not merely belong to a place,” and that sculpture is thereby “…the embodiment of places.”

I was hoping to find some kind trace of this dialogue in print. However, not much is available in English. There is the original book in German and actually a translation of it in Danish. I’ll look around more, maybe I can find it in in some other language that I know better, but for now it goes into my “to read” list.

Here are some of my exercises on the Eduardo Chillida theme:

I’m currently reading Saramago’s The Cave and am trying to imagine the Center that he describes in the book and I think my further cutouts are really somehow intertwined with the book..

Then I tried to explore how Chillida was working more with the white space:

and here is my take on it:

but it was somehow difficult for me, then I rearranged the cutouts and spontaneously this version came out, which I still don’t know how it should be – vertical or horizontal..