Sketchbook Moment No.39

Mr. Rowbottom was mentioned on the radio this morning…
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Sketchbook Moment No.38

Robotic Police State
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Sketchbook Moment No. 37

Projectile.
Mechanical interpretation of the Heimlich manoeuvre.

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Simon Taitâ??s Mews No.2

I call it sciretance

Hereâ??s an interesting work of art to mews upon. Itâ??s a sculpture by the eminent French artist Jean Tinguely and he called it Meta-Matic. It must be a work of art because itâ??s going to be seen at Tate Liverpool in the autumn when the exhibition of the work of Tinguely and Michael Landy goes on show. He made it in the 1950s, and several more like it, and it was very popular among the ordinary public though not so much loved by art critics. The problem with it is, itâ??s also a piece of mechanics. What Meta-Matic does is to respond to the viewers by creating a piece of abstract art for them by drawing on the board. Tinguely was interested in what would happen in the post-industrial world.

Nobodyâ??s questioning whether Meta-Matic is art or science. To some itâ??s neither, I suppose, but it was made by an acclaimed artist, albeit a somewhat subversive one, so it must be art. But what if it had been made by, say, Trevor Baylis? You remember Trevor, the accountant who wanted to do something for people in poorer countries who couldnâ??t listen to the radio because they didnâ??t have electricity, so he invented the clockwork radio. He could have made Meta-Matic, no problem, if heâ??d thought of it, but would it have been art?

Well, no. Thing is, he didnâ??t think of it, the sculptor did, and thereâ??s the difference. Or, at the risk of asking myself too many questions I canâ??t answer, is it? When Banksy was invited to take over the municipal art gallery in his home city, Bristol, not a few of us expected the place to be filled with bits of old wall with stencilled humorous drawings on them, but not a bit of it. He elegantly peopled the ranging Victorian halls with vitrines full of what amounts to automota, or at least electrically driven moving figures. You may have wondered if Banksyâ??s graffiti is art, but no-one says the stuff heâ??s put into this art gallery isnâ??t.

So is it that itâ??s art if it makes you smile, science if it doesnâ??t? Or only legitimately comic art if it moves?
Canâ??t be that itâ??s only science if itâ??s useful â?? the Science Museum is full of fascinating useless stuff.

The truth is that mathematicians and scientists are as creative as painters and sculptors, and if you get it as they do what they can make out of a quadratic equation can be as aesthetically pleasing as the line of an Ingres nude.

What you need is imagination, whether youâ??re checking out the contents of a petri dish or hacking at a lump of marble, and if you can get so sparked by it that something happens thatâ??s unique, youâ??ve done creativity. Da-dah! So that if someone, call him Arthur Ganson, say, or maybe Paul Spooner, makes some wheels, cogs and levers move together to make a thing pleasing enough to bring a lingering look and a smile, that has to be art. So, last question I canâ??t answer for now, why arenâ??t they in Tate Modern?

Mewsettes

One museumâ??s poisonâ?¦
The trouble often is that itâ??s the science museums that take the art of science too seriously. You all. Know the great Spoonerâ??s work, which crosses the confines of craft into fine art and takes on a black comedy twist on the way. One such piece was of a cat happily lapping a bowl of milk, then keeling over. It was called Poisoned Milk, and the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry who were putting it on display didnâ??t like the title, thought it represented animal cruelty. They wanted it called Spoiled Milk, which rather misses the point â?? the very response of CMT, who wouldnâ??t agree to the renaming and it was taken out of the show. And donâ??t ask what happened to his Flogging a Dead Horseâ?¦

Counting hoops
What is in a national art museum though â?? the National Museum of Fine and Decorative Arts, no less, aka the V&A â?? is an automaton made by CMTâ??s own Max Alexander along with artist Isabel Vince. Itâ??s in the museumâ??s Village Fete summer offering, in its delightful quadrangle. Max, who seems to have a bit of thing about sheep but weâ??ll draw veil, has contributed a new amusement: you lie on a bed and try to throw hula-hoops over the giant mechanical moving sheep. I had a go but I kept falling asleepâ?¦

Sketchbook Moment No. 36

The Shop.
You need it. We got it.

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