Tomorrow
Two nights ago, I went to the grand opening of Litvak Gallery, a small slice of glass heaven right here in Tel Aviv. It was a big and flashy event; lots of people and cameras and suits and ties. On any other day, this would not have been my cup of tea, but it was a really happy day and I was drinking white wine. I still can't believe that a huge gallery, containing the creme de la creme of the world of glass art, just popped up like that in the city I live in. However you look at it, this has got to be good.
And now I kind of secretly want to get invited to another flashy event so I can wear my incredibly perfect flashy dress again. So, if you happen to hear of any flashy events I might like - which pretty much rules most of them out, I guess - please let me know.
The exhibition is beyond magical. I will have to go back sometime soon when there aren't so many people and cameras and ties around, because opening nights are never the best way to look at art and really take it in. There are so many impressive works by so many impressive artists that I can't list them all. But the star of the show - Lucio Bubacco's Eternal Temptation - what can I say? If the entire exhibit were just that one room, I would have been satisfied. All the rest was just a bonus.
Just about everyone in the gallery was trying to get into that one small room, and Israelis, even in suits and ties, don't stand on line. Understandably, they were letting only three or four people in at a time, and it was a lot like trying to get on a crowded bus. But after managing to squeeze through and get to the other side of the black velvet curtain, you find yourself in a whole different universe. It's hard to describe the feeling you get when you walk into the room; eighteen months of Lucio's work form an installation so intense and powerful it takes your breath away. If you are a glass person, you can't stop wondering "how the hell is it possible?" - but the work stands on its own, incredible superhuman technique aside.
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When I got home after the event, I found myself thinking about my drawing teacher again, him and his white space. Some things people say just stick in your head forever. I think one of the many things that make Lucio's work so special is the "white space". The air. His work is full of air. Obviously, many glass works are full of air - it gets blown into them and makes them what they are. But this is completely different. Most large-scale glass sculptures look as heavy as they probably are, but Lucio's work looks lightweight, almost literally floating on air.
My art teacher used to say things like "don't paint the chair, paint the space around the chair and the chair, as if they were one. Because they are the same, you know. Particles. Everything is made of the same particles. You, me, the chair, the space around the chair, that plant in the corner, the space around the plant in the corner. All the same."
(At some point, all this stuff became way too Buddhist and started to piss me off. I am NOT the same as the plant in the corner. And eventually, I stopped going to those classes.)
I think the other night it suddenly all made sense.
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It's been an exciting week. On Sunday I got a call from Ilan, owner of Gil Raphal, who called to tell me that a few parts of Lucio's Eternal Temptation had broken during shipment. Now, normally I wouldn't be happy to hear that a glass masterpiece was broken, but then came the rest of the sentence: "and he's coming to our studio to fix them tomorrow morning."
As I stuttered, trying to sound angry, "oh... crap... how could anyone have let that happen", a small voice inside of me was jumping up and down, yelling "Yes! YES!!! The pieces broke! And I get to watch him fix them!"
I arrived at Gil Raphal early the next morning, eagerly awaiting the maestro (Ilan tells me I act like a groupie, but I don't care) and dying of curiosity to see how exactly he was planning on fixing the pieces. After he had checked the studio out and settled down at his torch, he grabs a perfectly formed sculpture of a red devil holding a broken transparent green stem, no thicker than an office pin. "You aren't going to just stick that into the flame, right?" I ask with concern. "Won't it explode?"
"Do you think it's going to explode?" he laughs.
"Uh... yes. I think it is going to explode."
As I sit there watching, holding my breath and anticipating the intricate sculpture becoming a pile of red frit at any given moment, he indeed sticks the devil's hand into the flame. Cool as a cucumber, he grabs a rod of striking red, and within a couple of minutes, the broken stem grows a blooming red rose. Then, with the help of a full-sized ivory-colored rod (and not a stringer in sight), a glass angel's broken hand magically grows back its two lost fingers. Finally, two of the tiniest angels get calmly reattached to the top of a DNA-shaped structure, looking ethereal, peaceful and happy to be back with all their miniature angel friends, as if they hadn't just come out of a cotton cloud in a plastic bag. At which point, I can breathe again. Everything went well. Nothing exploded.
Please do not ask me for a logical explanation for this phenomenon.
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Tomorrow Lucio's class begins. In eleven hours and nine minutes, to be precise. I have been waiting for this moment for so long, I can't believe it's finally here. And I'm slightly bummed already because I know that in a few days it will be over. But I'm excited and curious to see which directions this class will push my work in. I have a feeling that something is going to change, drastically. Who knows?
I have been waiting for this for SO long. Ever since I visited Lucio's studio in Murano, a little over eighteen months ago, and he showed us his sketch for Eternal Temptation.
Wish me luck. I've never really tried sculpting the human form in glass before.
Well, besides the Beadheads I made in 2006, but they don't really count.
that is so freeeeeking exciting! i can't imagine how he does that either. what a wonderful story... and to watch him? wow!!!!! awesome... have fun taking his class... =) ... i like the part about particles, too.. makes sense. "we are all made of stars"
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Hooooooooooooly shit!!
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glorious writing again Sarah : )
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Hi Sarah,
What a wonderful, exciting post! I almost felt like I was with you at the gallery and running out to see the repairs. It's so fun to read about how much fun you're having and I look forward to seeing how all this affects your (already) beautiful work!
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