Studies for Construction Chares A. Riley
An art which stirs the human soul through forms which resemble nothing known, which represent nothing, and which symbolize nothing. —August Endell, 1890, cited by George Rickey in Constructivism: Origins and Evolution
T
he light lunch served on the terrace of Arthur Carter’s waterside home on the East End of Long Island is as flawless as the summer day itself, yet Carter is preoccupied. The conversation is typical of his wide-ranging table talk. The
host is a polymath whose range of expertise includes finance, journalism, mathematics, politics, and, of course, art. The early afternoon’s colloquy has woven many of these topics, starting with his recent exhibition at New York University’s Grey Art Gallery and touching upon the work of Richard Serra, whose massive exhibition of drawings is on view at the Metropolitan Museum. Later in the afternoon Carter fields a business call then suggests a stroll across the lawn to a guesthouse where he has been drawing. There, the real issue that has been on his mind emerges. Producing a small, unfinished sketch started earlier in the week, a few strokes of the pencil accompanied by touches of a red felt-tip pen, he indicates a pair of parallel lines separated by about a quarter inch of white paper. “I am wondering how far apart they should be,” he says, almost to himself.
Study for Construction No. 101, 1997. Pencil on paper, 8 x 6 inches.
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their distribution (layered or crosshatched in a lat-
ratory studies for new sculpture or reflections on
tice or grid) in Study for Construction No. 8, one
his existing work. Study for Construction No. 97,
in a series of related grid studies, create a shadow
for example, is one of a few perspectival renderings
effect and dramatic contrasts with the light of the
of Carter’s freestanding steel sculpture Signifier
paper under erasure.
(1999), an homage to Constantin Brancusi. This
Perrig also examines the ways in which a drawn
charcoal drawing uses shading to convey the struc-
line defines three-dimensional shape. For example,
ture and depth of the sculptural piece. There are
a modulated contour acts as a boundary between
moments when Carter shades outside the boundar-
differing surfaces in the twisted band of Study for
ies of the form, as in the blurred strokes beyond
Construction No. 188. This drawing suggests haptic
the contour of the paddle-like parts of Study for
as well as optical perception, and it is not difficult
Construction No. 110 or, perhaps more interesting,
to understand why that would matter to a sculp-
the lightly rubbed “aura” surrounding the out-
ture. Many of Carter’s drawings are either prepa-
lined grids in Studies for Construction Nos. 2 and 7.
Figure 8.
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Figure 10. Study for Construction No. 110, 200X. Medium, X x X inches.
Figure 11. Study for Construction No. 2, 200X. Medium, X x X inches.
Figure 12.
Study for Construction No. 7, 200X. Medium, X x X inches.
Study for Construction No. 8, 200X. Medium, X x X inches.
arthur c arter
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Figure 9. Study for Construction No. 97, 200X. Medium, X x X inches.
STUDIES F OR C O N STRU C TIO N
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The Elements of a Style It is tempting to relate drawing to handwriting, not
tually composites of strokes that often move in op-
only for the similarity of the means but for the sin-
posite directions. In Study for Construction No. 231,
gularity of the ends. A drawing style, like a cursive
all but one of its looping, open ellipses have been
style, is a hallmark of the individual hand. There
created by doubled lines that appear to have trav-
are important differences, however. It is easy to for-
eled in opposite directions.
get, in a world dominated by keyboards, that the
There is another way that drawing and writ-
line of cursive only goes in one direction, while in
ing part ways. While writing is produced by move-
drawing it almost never does. Even in the draw-
ments of the fingers and wrist, with the concen-
ings that seem to “flow” from top to bottom such
trated activity in the fingers themselves, drawing
as Study for Construction No. 229, or left to right
involves far more muscle groups and the extensive
such as Study for Construction No. 264, the precise
use of the forearm and elbow—sometimes even
movements by which the lines are executed are ac-
movement of the whole arm from the shoulder. For
Figure 16. Study for Construction No. 229, 200X. Medium, X x X inches.
Figure 17. Study for Construction No. 264, 200X. Medium, X x X inches.
Figure 18. 18
Study for Construction No. 231, 200X. Medium, X x X inches.
arthur c arter
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Orthogonal Construction 11, 2009. Stainless steel with green and yellow painted elements, 41 x 38 inches.
Study for Construction No. 139, 2008. Charcoal on paper, 8 x 6 inches.
Study for Construction No. 173, 2001. Pencil and ink on paper, 8 x 6 inches.
Study for Construction No. 136, 2011. Description TK, 6 x 8 inches.
50
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Study for Construction No. 74, 20TK. Description TK, TK x TK inches.
Study for Construction No. 74, 20TK. Description TK, TK x TK inches. 172
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6², 2010. Acrylic on paper, 12 x 9 inches.
176
ArthurCarterSFC-1st.indd 176-177
4², 2010. Acrylic on paper, 12 x 9 inches.
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