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Chuck Ginnever's Rashomon at Saratoga's Montalvo Arts Center

Chuck Ginnever's sculpture Rashomon will be at Montalvo Arts Center until Oct. 31, 2013.

I knew as soon as I saw the announcement that I had to go see this. The first time I went, the gate was locked. Next time the gate was open and I spent a couple hours there. Back home, I spent a couple more hours online reading about Chuck Ginnever and Rashomon (See the links at the end).

This led to many more questions and I had to go back for a couple more hours.

Like much modern art, Rashomon is more about how art works than about saying or depicting something. It explores the theory and assumptions underlying the practice and perception of art. Modern art can be very academic, didactic and intellectual. This may be because many modern artists have degrees in art and teach to support themselves. Don't let this make you forget that art is play. Rashomon explores the relationship between perspective, perception and conceptualization, fundamental processes in art appreciation. Each of the fifteen units is identical, but each sits in a different attitude and each looks like a different shape. This is akin to a controlled scientific experiment. All sculpture looks different from different angles, but most are unified by a conceptual continuity. As we walk around Ante Peccatum in the garden below the great lawn at Montalvo, we continue to see Adam and Eve, whether seen from the front [1], side or back [2] (Numbers in brackets refer to attached photos). The abstract Rashomon pieces look so different from different angles that it is hard to see the continuity, even walking around just one of them. The difference is largely based on the fact that they are made of flat steel plates, that look like a wall when seen face on [3], but look like a line when viewed from an edge [4]. That there are many plates of different irregular shapes, with different illumination and shading, makes it more difficult. The form does not fit a preexisting conceptual template.

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On first view one notices that there are many units, fifteen by count [5], and that each unit is made up of many flat rusted steel plates linked together. The title suggests a field of Samurai warriors, although in starched, angular ceremonial dress, rather than battle armor. Seeing all these pieces seeming to be rolling down the grassy slope [6] made me wonder what they would look like rolling down a mountain stream, at the beach or in the sky. On closer inspection of each unit we perceive sculptural elements of color, surface flatness, edge linearity, bend angle, illumination, shadow, position and inclination [7]. These are qualities that may relate more to architectural aesthetics. One can appreciate these qualities of the individual units, but that is not what Rashomon is all about.

At first the units appear to be very different. Each has different qualities, like the infinite variety of cloud forms. We can see many different forms in the different perspectives of each unit. Here is an eye [8], here is a mask [9], here is a nun [10] and here is a bow of ribbon [11]. But we are told that they are all identical. We have a puzzle to solve. How could so many different forms be the same? With a little effort, we can form a clear concept of the unifying form. The human mind works through pattern recognition. We see something, we see it again, we recognize the similarity, we form a concept, we give it a name, it enters our language and thought. On viewing the elements of Rashomon, one begins to notice certain shapes and combinations of plates again and again. There is one pair of plates that resemble the swept wings of a jet plane [12], another pair resembles the bow of a ship [13] and one looks like a samurai sword [14]. One can find these forms in all of the units, even when they may be partly hidden in the grass or upside down. Next one notices that the wing has a fin projecting down from its central fold [15]. At the bottom of this another plate bent to a right angle, making the two resemble the stand that might be under a flying wing model airplane. Three plates form what looks like a dam spillway [16].

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Pretty soon we can have names for all of the parts. Once one can recognize the parts, one can discern how they are connected. The different groupings are consistently related to one another. One notices that the overall form is that of an irregular ribbon of steel plates, with the ends looped back and joined at intermediate locations [17]. It is of topological genus 2; an object with two holes in it, sort of a double doughnut. It can be cut in two places and turned into a genus zero object, one with no holes. The juncture of the fin and the wings is the only place where three plates come together along a common edge [18]. If we cut the fin away from the wing, we can pass our hand from plate to plate in succession, counting off the plates [19]. We find that the eleventh and last plate is joined in T formation to the sixth plate [20]. Cutting this joint would allow the entire thing to be unfolded and flattened into a single irregular ribbon of steel. The overall pattern emerges from the elements and the way they are connected. Now one can walk from piece to piece and see how the same form was rotated and placed in a different orientation, on a different base. Run an imaginary hand along the plates of this one [21].

Stepping back, we notice the shadows cast by the units are as varied as the units, and they change with the movement of the sun [22]. I remembered that these were models of sculptures that were thirteen feet high. I put my camera inside some of them to get a view from inside [23]. Imagine climbing up on one of those big ones [24].

As I was examining the pieces, other people were in the area. Some were picnicking on the lawn [25], gardeners were mowing the lawn [26], some were walking by [27] and children were rolling down the grassy slope, as I had done when I was that age. When I backed out to get an overall view, several of the children walked in among the pieces to look at them and their parents got up to take a look [28]. One of the gardeners got out his cell phone to take a picture.

Montalvo is a great place to bring children, to picnic, take walks and view the outdoor sculpture garden. Rashomon will be at Montalvo Arts Center  through Thursday, October 31, 2013. You can get information about location, hours and parking here:

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