A note from the artist:
How do I start. Well, I’m happy to say I have finished.
The woven cover of the ‘Tondo’ is done; the mock relief under it is ‘sculpted'; the LP-sized Carrera marble ‘reproduction’ is with me. All of these are cheering me up and I’m very attached to them. Ah, one thing I didn’t mention is that Michelangelo never finished the piece.
I also chiselled a carving 'ABSOLUTELY NOT FOR SALE' on the marble. Wishful thinking, I’d love to keep it, but that is not possible. Which, in a way, brings us back to the events that triggered the conception of the project – the controversy surrounding whether we should or should not sell the Royal Academy ‘Tondo.’
It doesn’t really matter what triggers a work once it’s out there. Full disclosure: I owe all my passion for art to reproductions. I was addicted to Giacometti before I ever encountered a real figure of his. And of course, I knew Michelangelo from books. When I first went to Florence, was I just confirming what I thought I knew (Having the little marble reproduction of the ‘Tondo’ physically here with me in lockdown does make me reconsider this thought. I do feel a different relationship has formed. The beauty of the figures, the weight, the coldness of the stone, the smoothness… but let’s leave it).
Another disclosure: I have recently become fascinated by sketching ‘objects under cover,’ as triggered by imagining what cars might look like under their Christo-esque wrappings. What if I sketch the car, produce a Jacquard weave of the developed, flattened sketch, and then drape it over the car (Eventually, I replaced the actual car with ad hoc volumes and mock-up assemblages). The rolls of woven fabric that were miraculously delivered to me during lockdown clearly merited one of my favourite sentiments: 'Much better than I deserve!'
Draping cars was followed by draping some iconic pieces of art that may or may not really be there under their gloriously woven covers.
The beauty of Michelangelo’s ‘Tondo’ (there or not), magically permeates its opaque fabric through the rendered impression of coloured, silky translucency.
One more thing. Somewhere on the drape, sort of backstage, I scribbled a quote I remembered but could not verify (hence the question mark): 'EVERYTHING IS FOR SALE, THE ONLY QUESTION IS THE PRICE. Andy Warhol'?
RON ARAD, RA