Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Artscape Spotlight this Week: "A Story of Solitude"

Artscape is a public outdoor art exhibition that spans the entire downtown Pittsfield area. The exhibition has been ongoing for a number of years, with exciting new additions in each new year. Artscape includes sculptures, banners, and street signs that energize and add whimsy and beauty to our city.

Notable this week: "A Story of Solitude" by Lydia Musco

Standing on North Street between the St. Joseph's Church and the Greystone building is a tall lonesome structure. At seven foot three, such an object would be hard to miss, but it is odd knowing that so many people walk right by it without giving it much thought. Rightly named "A Story of Solitude," artist Lydia Musco put together a sculpture that places emphasis on structure, foundation, weight, time, and existence. The Artscapes around Pittsfield are quite impressive; to stand the test of time and weather is more than noteworthy considering that every artist who participated had to take such factors into account during the construction of each of their pieces. The work that Lydia Musco put together is no exception. At a glance, the sculpture looks to be nothing more than a column of reds, browns, and some greens. On the contrary, it is much more than that. The structure is composed of a stack of irregular slabs of concrete that display an imperceptible yet invoking presence. When studied up close, there are visual cracks and breaks in the structure possibly from weathering, but it still stands tall and independently regardless of which. It seems to exist by its own will despite its appointed state of solitude. Such a figure is epic.

Below is Musco's statement:

"Although this work is influenced by urban environments, it is equally fed by a connection to the rural, wooded landscapes I explored while growing up. My process is informed by methods associated with pouring building foundations, ancient Greek construction of columns, the formation of sedimentary layers, and the work of gravity. I'm thinking about the forms inherent in the accumulation and passage of time, specifically focusing on layers and the building up of a larger form with the stacking of multiple elements."

You can read more about Musco here: www.lydiamusco.com

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you, that was extremely valuable and interesting...I will be back again to read more on this topic.

Anonymous said...

Fantastic site, I hadn't noticed culturalpittsfield.blogspot.com previously in my searches!
Carry on the excellent work!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing the link, but unfortunately it seems to be down... Does anybody have a mirror or another source? Please reply to my post if you do!

I would appreciate if a staff member here at culturalpittsfield.blogspot.com could post it.

Thanks,
John

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing the link, but unfortunately it seems to be down... Does anybody have a mirror or another source? Please answer to my post if you do!

I would appreciate if a staff member here at culturalpittsfield.blogspot.com could post it.

Thanks,
Mark

Cultural Pittsfield said...

Hey John and Mark thank-you for your comments and for reading our blog - I am not sure what link you think is down. I just checked the link to Lydia Musco's site and it is working fine.

Thank-you for your concerns.

Anonymous said...

Hello,

I have a question for the webmaster/admin here at culturalpittsfield.blogspot.com.

Can I use some of the information from this post above if I give a backlink back to this site?

Thanks,
Jules