The process of naming anything imbues it with meaning in our shared language. How we talk about things can create connections, sow confusions, elevate ideas, or express compassion. It’s truly an art to figure out how to name something well — whether it’s a child, an experience, a memory, a hypothesis, a plan… or a piece of art.
Usually, we get the best names for things when we collaborate with others to get a variety of perspectives. Since the imagery in my sculptures comes from a mysterious and intuitive place, I’ve made the interpretive art of collectively finding names for them an essential part of my creative process.
In March I held a special naming session for several of my sculptures. Videographer William Sky filmed this session as part of his video series MindColour, aimed at capturing great conversations with talented artists. I’m honored to be featured, and will let you know when the episode on my work comes out!
Read on to hear the first person account of what unfolded in the eloquent words of participant, Dan White (pictured below, next to me, behind the easel, along with the full naming group).
March 2023 Naming Group
Dan (to the right of me) in the photo) said:
“Last year, I experienced ‘Synchronous Listening’ — a phenomenon in which a group of people’s brain waves sync together briefly while they are in a room listening to a piece of live music. The audience looks at the motions and expressions of the musicians while taking in the sound waves, and a kind of transmission takes place — the audience locking into the creative minds of the performers.
“Something similar took place at Brad’s house — but I think of it as ‘Synchronous Naming’ — a group of people, some of them friends, others who barely knew each other, locked into Brad’s sculptures, synced with his creative vision, and completed his works of art by naming them.
“The generosity of Brad’s vision moved me — a work is unfinished, in a liminal state, until a group of people gather around it, interpret, and introduce it to the world, taking thoughts and impressions and turning them into language.
“Brad provided us with sculptures that were specific on the one hand, but open-ended: three canine figures beneath a series of moons, a mysterious duckish being with a stylized human face, and butterflies and an amphibious frog-person gathered by vines next to a disembodied hand breaking out from a void.
“The group had an array of interpretations: references to ancient belief systems, musical signifiers, pop music references, even the recurring memories of one participant’s childhood imaginary friend named Soakey Peter. No interpretation was considered ‘wrong’ or transgressive. This was not a soccer match of ideas but a common upwelling, notions and interpretations bouncing off each other at eccentric angles.
“And for me, the most moving part was something I never expected — an upwelling of agreement, and a surge of support. It will always be a mystery to me exactly how we as a group arrived at the names. All I know is that the process led us there, and Brad’s artwork — mystical, whimsical, provocative, sad, and willfully incomplete for the sake of capaciousness — gave us much to contemplate.”
Metamorphic Awe
Zen Lunatic
Dangerous Passage
| Over several hours the group came up with the names for the three pieces above. |
|
Participate in the Art of Naming The results of these formal, art-naming circles are so rich. There’s always a palpable moment when a name clicks and everyone in the group reaches agreement that the title proposed represents the story each of us sees in the sculpture. If you’d like to attend a naming session in the future, please send me an email to let me know: bradburkhartsculptor@gmail.com |
