The aim of art, primarily, is to create an aesthetic attraction. The goal of the artist is to produce something people respond to on a visual level. The painting's purpose is merely to hang, and the sculpture to hold down the fort in the corner of a garden or gallery.
Most of the time.
Sometimes art addresses not only form but function. It serves a real-world purpose and engages not only the eye, but a specific task. Here are profiles of three Augusta artists who address both ideas in their work, who understand the desire for beauty and the need for an object that fulfills a task.
PAUL PEARMAN
In recent years, micro-mosaic artist Paul Pearman has gained fame for his ornate belt buckles. The buckles, which often incorporate gems, fossils, glass and stone, have graced the midsections of musicians including Keith Richards, Steven Tyler of Aerosmith and Sheryl Crow.
Although the bulk of his time and effort goes into keeping up with the demand for the popular accessories, the theory behind them predates the first time he attached glass to brass by several years.
Mr. Pearman prides himself on never producing a piece that doesn't also serve a purpose. His mosaics can be found in kitchen counters, in tiled rugs and, soon, in a series of dragonfly door knockers.
Even the big blue horse that resides over the D. Timm's building door on Ellis Street serves a purpose. A bottle opener attached to its flank stands ready should any unopened beverages happen its way.
The secret, Mr. Pearman said, is in asking the right questions.
"For me, it's always the way it looks and the way it works," Mr. Pearman said, seated behind the workbench of his overflowing studio.
"You have to ask yourself how something will function, and if it is beautiful."
Mr. Pearman draws much of his inspiration from popular iconography -- hearts, skulls and butterflies are popular subject matter -- and from nature. A recent buckle uses variations in size and color to emulate alligator skin, while another seeks to replicate the appearance of grain blowing in the wind.
"All things that are beautiful are derived from nature," he said.
The questions asked don't deal exclusively with the appearance of Mr. Pearman's pieces. He is also always concerned with how well they can complete their assigned task.
"It's about problem solving," he said. "It's figuring out what will repel heat. It's about what will repel liquid. It's about what will stand up. And that, all of that, is about asking the right questions."
MR. PEARMAN'S BELT BUCKLES CAN BE FOUND AT WINDSOR JEWELERS, 2635 WASHINGTON ROAD.
SHISHIR CHOKSHI
Every time Shishir Chokshi begins to craft one of his distinctive cups, bowls, plates or vases, he understands that he is working with form and function. The former often informs the latter, but Mr. Chokshi believes his responsibility as an artist and potter is to ensure that beauty continues to coexist with practicality.
"You always have to ask what will go into that bowl," he said. You have to ask what is going to happen to the spaghetti on that plate when you stop suddenly. Once you answer those questions, you can begin to address the aesthetic."
Although many of Mr. Chokshi's pieces are constructed using carefully engineered forms perfected over thousands of years, he doesn't thinks ceramics is a medium immune to evolution. He said he still plays with shapes and embellishment, and considers the unglazed work in the same way a painter might consider a canvas. He said many of his pieces are inspired by landscape, portraiture, abstraction.
"I'm basically trying to infuse, in a very practical, properly designed vessel, those same tenets that might be found in a painting."
Mr. Chokshi said what he struggles with is finding a way for people to accept that art can be part of their everyday lives, that his hand-thrown pitchers might still serve OJ and that his coffee cups are great for, well, coffee.
"This is art, but it straddles a line," he said. "I mean, it is still a wall full of mugs and bowls, and that's one of the reasons I do this. I love that ... someone might drink out of this mug every day. I hope it can enrich the experience."
MR. CHOKSHI'S WORK CAN BE FOUND AT TIRE CITY POTTERS, 210B 10TH ST.
JESSE ELLIOTT
There's a peeling green piano in Jesse Elliott's North Augusta home that will never again play a single note. Mr. Elliott and a well-wielded screwdriver saw to that. But that doesn't mean the piano, carefully crafted and pieced together, no longer functions. Instead, it's found a new, equally important mission.
It's a desk.
Mr. Elliott has recently taken to finding discarded and unregarded pianos, doors and timber and, with some imagination and effort, re-purposed them as artful furnishings. Heavy oak doors become coffee tables and buffets. Pianos and the old electric organ in his workshop become desks. Even his high-handled tool box is built from planks stripped during assorted remodeling projects.
Mr. Elliott said the advantage to working with salvaged material is there's a certain character, a sort of material wisdom, found in old pieces that can't be reproduced. He also said there's an element of quality and affordability that's tough to ignore.
"Buying something with this much detail would be expensive," he said. "Making something like this would take hours and hours and require skill that I just don't have. But I can do this."
Mr. Elliott said he rarely pays more than $100 for a piece, and often the material is free. His labor is the real investment.
Mr. Elliott said he never searches for material with a specific project in mind. Instead, he shops for salvageable items he finds interesting and then lets them suggest their final function.
"I see what I can find and then I start from there," he said. "I also try to use all the pieces, in some way. I'll try to incorporate all the parts, if not on this project, then I'll save them for the next."
MR. ELLIOTT'S WORK CAN BE SEEN AT SHOPPE31:30 AT 1126 BROAD ST.
The Augusta Chronicle ©2010 Morris Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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awesome idea with recycling pianos as a desk! gotta love the creative mindset. Also, I was wondering where I could check out the belt buckles.. I've often hear about Pearman's works gracing the figure of prominent musicians
The article says the belt buckles can be found at Windsor Jewelers