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The Power of Thought

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~Sophia~

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victorissathepoweroftho.jpgvictorissathepoweroftho.jpg

All human accomplishments throughout the centuries began with a single thought.

“Power of Thought” was inspired by the drive that has led men and women through the ages to expand the human experience. The sculpture is an acknowledgment and a celebration of this extraordinary experience and the related achievements. Through twenty one detailed features, the sculpture tells some of the stories of this human journey. A wheel turns into a steam engine, which become the bullet train hurdling up a track that is being pulled by the athletic figure, and is transformed into the unraveling of a DNA sequence. The figure’s left arm is lifted up releasing the Wright flier, followed by the most beautiful aircraft ever built, the Super Sonic Transport with its sleek body and its elegantly swept wings.

Below the figure are representations of architectural, engineering, scientific and artistic achievements. Included are: Jordan’s Petra, the Roman Coliseum, The Hoover Dam, Sydney’s Opera House, Shakespeare, Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, Taj Mahal, Toronto’s CN Tower, The Great Wall of China, The Pyramids, Michelangelo’s Creation, Rodin’s the Thinker and finally Neil Armstrong Footprint on the surface of the moon.

The sculpture is currently 1/3 life-size. Plans are to introduce the work in a larger scale in the next 6 months. This 32" version is a limited edition of 30 copies only.

Details of the base:

victorissathepoweroftho.jpg

victorissathepowerofthod.jpg

Edited by ~Sophia~
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I admire your concept, the statue is magnificent, and the execution is incredible, however, I have a criticism.

Being a student of architecture, I have to criticize your use of the Sydney Opera House as an example of the 'Power of Thought'. Though the opera house is visibly striking from the exterior, and its existence is absolutely a testament to the skill of the various contractors and his workmen, and an overall testament to the ingenuity of man, the project itself and it's results are somewhat questionable.

First of all, during the final phase of construction, the interiors phase, the project was nationalized under the Ministry of Public Works, when a new administration took over. The original designer resigned at this point. If I am correct, he never returned to see the opera house after it was completed. During the phase after nationalization, the project skyrocketed from its then 22 million dollar cost, to around 120 million. This isn't completely atypical for an interiors construction, as a lot of the cost is blown on interior finishes and craftsmanship, the incredible jump, of 600%, is far too large.

Secondly, once the project was nationalized, the original design for the auditoriums was scrapped. Originally, the architect had planned on housing less people than the new administration had wanted. The architect hired an acoustician to develop a design that housed the proper number of people. The acoustics suffered from the increased number of seats, as the architect had warned they would. It's widely understood that though the interior is incredibly beautiful, it's acoustics are terrible. A model of the original auditorium design was tested, and found to be acoustically very well done.

The opera house is an incredible monument, but it's construction is a testament to the powers that be encroaching on private projects, and turning them into something abhorrent.

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  • 1 month later...
victorissathepoweroftho.jpgvictorissathepoweroftho.jpg

All human accomplishments throughout the centuries began with a single thought.

“Power of Thought” was inspired by the drive that has led men and women through the ages to expand the human experience. The sculpture is an acknowledgment and a celebration of this extraordinary experience and the related achievements. Through twenty one detailed features, the sculpture tells some of the stories of this human journey. A wheel turns into a steam engine, which become the bullet train hurdling up a track that is being pulled by the athletic figure, and is transformed into the unraveling of a DNA sequence. The figure’s left arm is lifted up releasing the Wright flier, followed by the most beautiful aircraft ever built, the Super Sonic Transport with its sleek body and its elegantly swept wings.

Below the figure are representations of architectural, engineering, scientific and artistic achievements. Included are: Jordan’s Petra, the Roman Coliseum, The Hoover Dam, Sydney’s Opera House, Shakespeare, Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, Taj Mahal, Toronto’s CN Tower, The Great Wall of China, The Pyramids, Michelangelo’s Creation, Rodin’s the Thinker and finally Neil Armstrong Footprint on the surface of the moon.

The sculpture is currently 1/3 life-size. Plans are to introduce the work in a larger scale in the next 6 months. This 32" version is a limited edition of 30 copies only.

Details of the base:

victorissathepoweroftho.jpg

victorissathepowerofthod.jpg

Why is there a wanting of a larger sculpture - to what end? what is 'wrong' with this as is, sizewise?

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The opera house is an incredible monument, but it's construction is a testament to the powers that be encroaching on private projects, and turning them into something abhorrent.

The invention of the wheel is rudimentary to us now. The pyramids, the Great Wall of China, and the Taj Mahal were built with slave labor. The Colosseum was used for the entertainment of men killing each other. I believe the history of these places make the piece more complex and profound, man learning from the mistakes and triumphs of the past, creating something as profound as possible in spite of the circumstances, and continuing to move forward.

Edited by Tenderlysharp
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Why is there a wanting of a larger sculpture - to what end? what is 'wrong' with this as is, sizewise?

Size communicates a symbolic meaning. When a work is life size it represents the whole man. The miniaturized version is inspiring, but doesn't have the same impact. Size also communicates the artists confidence in the value of their own work. It is a greater investment of time, money and effort to create. Larger work is more expensive and attracts a more elite group of collectors. The work has to be of great quality to sell in a higher stakes market.

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