Published by the government of Zimbabwe
6 July 2009
Harare — When Irene Olympios (5) met her death after a decorative stone carving weighing more than 100 kilogrammes fell from its stand and crushed her some five years ago, it was largely an accident.
There are, however, two key points that people need to know about artworks of this nature.
Firstly, sculptors needed to know that sculpture is not in any way divorced from science and technology. Secondly, for sculptors who enjoy sculpting life-size carvings they should take note of symmetry. There is no way a sculpture can stand on its own especially life-size carvings when sculptors do not get the symmetry right.
So with this in mind we see that art and science are intertwined and artists should apply science every time they carve or sculpt their works. But moving away from these obvious lessons, it is disturbing to note that the beautiful larger than life-size sculptures by Adam Madhebhe at Construction House are falling apart.
The reason is that Madhebhe, who is now based in South Africa, overlooked that fact that his sculptures made from scrap metal needed support and protection from corrosion. The sculptures depict construction men at work, holding picks, shovels and a wheelbarrow clad in their overalls.
While the decorative sculptures have become the face of Construction House, it is sad to note that sculptures are now falling apart due to corrosion. The rust which has "eaten up" the bottom of the sculptures has made the authorities to give the sculptures a timely facelift.
While the sculptures have been there for a long time, Madhebhe should have known that his sculptures needed protection from corrosion and applied the necessary measures for instance, putting reinforcements to minimise the hollows.
Thanks to those who saw it fit to give the sculptures a facelift as least we have people who know how to appreciate art. If those sculptures had fallen on passers-by, it would have had the same consequence like that stone carving that fell and crushed the little girl.
The sculptures, which are at the entrance of the towering Construction House, could have fallen and crushed someone. One only hopes that sculptors would at least apply the laws of science in their work because art without science is shallow.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 The Herald. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
