Sculpture: sage story teller
"A bronze man still can tell stories his own way"
(Chicago “Saturday in the Park”)
Sojourneyman - figure in steel, concrete and bronze, roger belveal 2021 copyright and registered NFT Blockchain
40" x 10" x 11", 35 lbs
The Story Teller
Survivor of ancient library fires, data center power outages, surges, chip supply chain issues, ransomware attacks, etc., Sculpture has become civilizations story teller if for no other reason than it sticks round longer than papyrus, paper. and pixels.
Tell mine too
Why not give it a whirl telling my story? Anyway, that was my thought. And if that story includes a elements of Futurism? It becomes a seer of sorts. See metaphor fun & prophet.
My Story
A journey of three decades in the trenches of digital transformation put me into the core of the tech-culture reactor. Ah, the smell of Hot pixels in the morning.
figure in steel, concrete and bronze, roger belveal 2021 copyright and registered NFT Blockchain
Sojourneyman - figure in steel, concrete and bronze, roger belveal 2021 copyright and registered NFT Blockchain
40" x 10" x 11", 35 lbs
About the Art
The sculpture style is my own, developed over years. of exploration. The art is about the life and spirit of the figure, not anatomy. It is the cognitive side of Human Factors more than physical Ergonomics. See my page Steel Life
About space
It is a sketch in space, a gesture with generous amounts of transparency, defining a perceivable 3D volume, meant for the mind more than the eye.
Mainly in Metal
I choose to work directly in steel rather than clay or wax. All marks are mine and not from a foundry. I cherish the honesty of tools against bare metal. These are my brush strokes. Why would I hide them?
A Movement on Movement
Futurism was a “movement in art about movement in art”. Get it? From the first time I saw Marcel Duchamp's Nude Descending a staircase, I have been fascinated by the notion of capturing a sense of motion in a static image. There is still no better expression of the inner spirit than the human figure in motion.
Once a usability guy…
A UX architect obsessed with designing a better human experience in complex business and social environments, focused on understanding subtle details affecting our approach to design.
Questions & Ideas
At every turn, I filled my knapsack with insights into the peculiar relationship between humans and technology.
Social Equation
Of particular interest to me was the impact of technology on the human to human connection and upon the culture overall.
Sojourneyman - figure in steel, concrete and bronze, roger belveal 2021 copyright and registered NFT Blockchain
40" x 10" x 11", 35 lbs
Stuff happens
Then when a diagnosis of Parkinson's brought an early end to my IT career, I opened the knapsack and began exploring the questions and ideas though my art.
The Journey
So, my journey into what makes one experience good and another less good continues. I have simply changed medium from pixels and code to anything and everything real and virtual. Please join me on this journey.
Steel & irony
Giving a sense of life, motion, and emotion to the human form remains my forever fixation.
Making art about movement when you have a "movement disorder" is a funny thing. A little dark humor for those that appreciate such things. And I do, being a fan of the late Norm Macdonald. After all, where's the fun in having a dreaded disease if you can't make jokes about it?
Sojourneyman - figure in steel, concrete and bronze, roger belveal 2021 copyright and registered NFT Blockchain
40" x 10" x 11", 35 lbs
Art of the Handshake
The most infamous PD symptom is shaky hands. The funny thing is that as I move so does the figure I’m working on. giving it that extra sense of motion. Voila! See how it all works.!
Art is PD Therapy
Art, is It turns out, is great therapy for Parkinson's because it engages mind and body in unison which is good for the circuitry. Creative tasks replenish brain chemistry naturally.
PD “Off time”
I loved solving puzzles in my role as an information architect, It was a geeky thrill for me. The problem I eventfully discovered is that such data-intensive tasks are a bonfire, consuming my dopamine already at low levels, which is the essence of Parkinson’s’. It became a train wreck of what my neurologist called “Off time”, which is a sudden intense fatigue like a power outage in a storm.
Sojourneyman - figure in steel, concrete and bronze, roger belveal 2021 copyright and registered NFT Blockchain
40" x 10" x 11", 35 lbs
More PARKINSON’S Insights
As for the many ways Parkinson’s affects me, it’s complicated. I’m still trying to understand it myself, but I’ve learned many interesting things which I will share in future posts. But please be patient. Everything takes me far longer these days than it used to.
Fox Foundation
Note: The Michael J. Fox Foundation is a fantastic resource for anything to do with Parkinson’s.
See this art in person in the Texas Sculpture Association show happening now at the Coppell Arts Center 505 Travis St. Coppell, TX 75019
This show runs October 19th through November 21st, 2021 Reception October 28th 6:00-7:30pm
Roger belveal logo, artist’s own signature and trademark based on Belveal facility name, which is and has been registered as a internet domain in multiple forms since the internet has existed.