Paar

"The question for me is how is it possible to make figurative work today in the face of the long tradition of realistic sculpture. Sculpture apart from being sculpture has always been used in the past as a vehicle to convey religious or political messages. They always had to transport something other than themselves. At the beginning of the 20th century a movement towards greater autonomy started, which amongst other developments led to the demise of the figurative tradition as a whole. There were only a few good sculptors, like Giacometti or Gonzalez for example, who continued. In the discourses of the 60's and 70's art began to constantly reflect itself, its own means and functions were taken apart and analysed separately: colour and material, form and content etc. I believe that it is important to experience all these parts as a whole... It's necessary to differentiate between human-size and sculpture-size, to clearly map out an imaginative space. People should never think when they see a sculpture : 'There's a standing man!' Sculpture which is not life-size seems to activate the space in which it is placed more. Also, it engages your imaginative powers much more. Life-size sculptures seem somehow less important." (S. Balkenhol, in: 'Possible Worlds: Sculpture from Europe', London 1991, pp.27-28.)