Date: Fri, 08 Feb 2002 21:51:40 -0800
Subject: Re: was: Re: PUPT: Bruce Schwartz



HobgoblinH-AT-aol.com wrote:

> WOW, I second that. The notion of art that you destroy is nihilistic. And, I
> might add, modern-- Suppose a welder-cum-artist welds pieces of autos
> together and sets a sledge hammer beside the exhibit with a sign: "Use Me."
> Call it a work in   progress, right?
> Alice

"The multicolored Kalachakra Mandala, made entirely from colored sand, was
painstakingly created over three weeks by monks from the Namgyal Monastery in
Dharamsala, India. In a lesson about the impermanence of life, the completed
mandala was destroyed and the sands were used as an offering for world peace."

I wouldn't characterize the creation and destruction of the Buddhist sand
Mandalas as nihilistic, nor is it a modern practice. Art takes many forms and
serves many functions. The annual BURNING MAN sculpture that is created and
then destroyed by fire every Labor Day weekend in the desert of New Mexico is
another closer to home example. The process of creating is so rewarding and
revealing. Letting art become a commodity, a possession, or worse yet, a
product, often robs art of its transformative function as a gift.
MM




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