A City and Stone - Urban Sculpture in Ashdod

In May 1998, an unusual sculpturing symposium took place in the port city of Ashdod on Israels Mediterranean coast. A group of 15 sculptors - nine of them from Israel and six from overseas - worked on some 450 tons of stone blocks of various types and, in a concentrated period of 25 days, turned them into dynamic artistic works. In the opinion of the symposium curator, the sculptor Baruch Wind, this particular raw material has major advantages. Stone cut from its natural environment in the quarry has an element of monumental rootedness which conveys a message of eternity.

The worked stone easily connects with the sources of classical art, to the magnificent marble sculptures of antiquity, which still provide inspiration to artists and radiate a special aesthetic value. The raw material, which initially may seem clumsy and massive, softens during the creative process and takes on a quality of warmth and simplicity which readily appeals to even the most unsophisticated viewers.

The symposium organisers chose an artistic milieu in which the sculptors worked amongst the host population of the city. Thousands of citizens of Ashdod of all ages came specially to witness the creative process, to touch the sculptures and to have a share in a unique artistic experience.

Everyone who played a part in the event was won over by the creative metamorphosis taking place before their eyes. The artists too, benefited from this interaction. They broke out of the individuality that normally characterises them, and the group dynamics allowed them to exchange ideas and maintain a dialogue in solving technical and artistic dilemmas that arose during the creative process.

The 15 sculptures that resulted from the symposium will shortly find permanent sites throughout the city of Ashdod. Hopefully, these works of art will provide a counterweight to the stresses of the usually confined and rather oppressive urban landscape which tends to be a hallmark of the modern city.

Sculpture page 2