Orvieto

Have you ever been to Orvieto?


Orvieto is an ancient Umbrian town, one of the main towns of the ancient Etruscans. It is built on a huge flat sandstone rock, towering like a cliff over the surrounding plain of the river Chiana.
Once this was a safe place providing protection against enemies.

Unfortunately the sandstone is rather soft and during the centuries continued to crumble away.
Houses on the edge of the town fell into the abyss when the rock below them collapsed.
This precarious situation inspired me to create my sculpture and poem “Orvieto”.

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garden of poetry, orvieto

Orvieto

Orvieto

Ancient town

Proud on your fragile throne

Expecting anxiously

The new morning

 

Garden of Poetry, Dreaming of Trasimeno

Imagine a hot summers day on the shore of Trasimeno Lake in Umbria.

You´re lying on a warm rock watching the sunlit waters.

There is almost no wind even the waves hardly make a sound.

Your eyes are closed but in spite of this you see reflections of light, blue, red, golden…beautiful. You are as relaxed as can be.

Garden of Poetry, Wolfgang Sandt, Dreaming of Trasimeno

Garden of Poetry, Dreaming of Trasimeno

I travelled
In a boat
Created by the waters
Of the lake itself.
Around me
Silence
I immersed myself
In that sweet abyss
Waking up
Remained
A breath
Of sadness

 

After a while you wake up and realise you had fallen asleep.

All you saw was just a dream…

 

 

 

 

How I work. A sneak peek into my studio

How I work. A sneak peek into my studio

Garden of Poetry, Sneak peek into Wolfgang Sandt´s studio

Sneak peek into my studio

You may ask yourself “How did it happen that a sculptor created an entire art show with sculptures and…poems.

Well, I hadn´t done this before. But to explain it I need to tell you a little how I work.

See, when I create sculptures I have different approaches.

When I have a commission it is fairly clear.

One of my clients wants to have something. We talk about it in detail to make sure I (and they) have really understood, what they want. I make it (Okay it is a little more challenging as I make it sound here, but you get the idea).

When I do “free” sculptures, things are different.

Often I see a piece of stone and have an idea what to do with it.

Sometimes it works out fine and I get into the working flow, that makes me finish the sculpture in one rush (The rush can last several days until the sculpture is finished. Yet basically I know always what I do and how to proceed.).

But often I recognise after a while that things don´t work out the way I thought.

In consequence I put the half finished piece aside and let it collect dust in my studio (And I have lots of dust in there:-)

Preparing the art show for the Villa Aganoor Pompilj where I had to create sculptures for an entire garden some of these pieces suddenly fitted into the concept like pieces of a puzzle falling into place.

Of course I had to finish them mostly differently than the way I had intended to do in the beginning. But now I got into the work flow.

When I work on a sculpture I give it a name, a work title if you want to call it this way.

Of course these work titles refer to something I see in the stone.

To give you an example.

For the “Wings of Sunset” the name was very clear from the beginning. Later I changed the title of the poem to “wings” but the original title is still in the poem.

As a matter of fact from the very moment the sculpture has a title it creates an image in the brain of the viewer. Happened also to me.

Working on the sculpture I tried to get always closer to that image.

Consequently the image got stronger, I started to see things more in detail, just like a little movie. The glaring sunlight, the golden reflections on the waves, the dark indigo grey water when the sun has settled behind the horizon…And then I started to describe it, trying to evoke in few words the image in my brain.

Garden of Poetry, Wolfgang Sandt,Lost poems

“Lost poems”, still unfinished, in my studio, though at that moment I knew already how to proceed…

It was similar with the “Lost poems”. I had a peace of marble that resembled antique scrolls (Just in my phantasy, somebody else might have seen something completely different)

While I worked on them my brain was all about, “What could have happened to them? What could happen to them in future? Which stories can they tell us”.

And so it went on. I did get into a flow not only of chiseling, cutting, polishing stone but also doing the same to the words and images in my brain.

Vice versa the sudden focus on the words, the poems made me look at the stones differently, made me see things I hadn´t perceived before, thus changing also the images.

There is one difference between words and stones. Once you have carved away something from the stone it is gone. Words you can ad or take away every way you want.

Though while creating my poems I found that it was usually better to “carve” away some more words.

 

 

Garden of Poetry, Jungle of our thoughts

Garden of Poetry,  Jungle of our thoughts

Garden of Poetry, Jungle of our thoughts

Garden of Poetry, Jungle of our thoughts

Another transition I am exploring, is the change from the world of minerals to the world of plants. From the seemingly unmovable, inalterable like stone to the permanently obviously changing, growing, decaying world of plants. The jungle is the prime example for this world. In my poem “Jungle of our thoughts” I use it as a metaphor for the inner world of our permanently changing, growing, hopefully not decaying thoughts.

Want to take a look at my crowdfunding campaign at Indiegogo?

“Garden of Poetry”, The Skin of the Water

“Garden of Poetry”, The Skin of the Water

Garden of Poetry, "The Skin of the Water"

Garden of Poetry, “The Skin of the Water” , marble

Water, air, fire, light are the inspiration for many of my art works. I try to explore the transitions from the heavy, solid, seemingly eternal material stone to something volatile, vulnerable permanently changing. Of course this explorations have limits (unfortunately) but I try to come as close as possible to my ideal.

Discover more about the crowdfunding campaign for my “Garden of Poetry” artbook.

Garden of Poetry, my personal guarantee

Garden of Poetry, my personal guarantee

I am doing a fundraising campaign for my book "Garden of Poetry". Can you help me?

You may ask yourself what happens if we don´t reach the goal for the funding. Is the money lost? Do I still get the perk I wanted?

Well, the answer is easy.

Actually I have two answers.

Answer number one: I am convinced that we will reach the goal. There are still 44 days and I will certainly do everything to make it happen.

Answer number two: In the unlikely case that we do not reach the funding goal completely, with todays possibilities of printing I have the possibility to make a  book for everyone who claimed it as a perk (inluding marble case made by myself if you choose that option). Of course I don´t aim for a tiny mini edition of the “Garden of Poetry” book, but nobody who contributes will be left without the perk they wanted.

It is also understood, that everyone who makes a smaller contribution (25 Dollar) will receive a hand-signed photograph with a poem.

And of course everybody who makes a real big contribution and wants to have a sculpting class in Italy with me will receive it.

So don´t worry. You are 100 percent covered by my guarantee.

 

How you can make a contribution to the “Garden of Poetry” artbook

Making a contribution to the “Garden of Poetry” artbook is easy. Here´s how it works.

Garden of Poetry, crowdfunding, contribute to my crowdfunding campaign

Making a contribution to the “Garden of Poetry” artbook is easy…

Just go to my safe page at Indiegogo

Here you can decide how much you would like to contribute.

You can also see, which perks I am offering in return.

Of course you can as well make a contribution without asking a perk.

Yet this would be a pity. I think the perks I am offering are not so bad:-). 

I appreciate very much your contribution to  my artbook . Take a look what you will receive in return.

I appreciate very much your contribution to my artbook . Take a look what you will receive in return.

And I am happy to give something in return for your help.

 

However, it´s up to you. You can choose.

Once you have chosen you click on “continue”.

You will receive then detailled informations how to proceed, according to your wishes.

You can make safe payments with your credit card or with PayPal.

So don´t hesitate. Go to my page and take a look. Your support is very appreciated.

Fundraising for my artbook more information

 

We are live! The crowdfunding ship has set sails

We are live! The crowdfunding ship has set sails

"Garden of Poetry" The crowdfunding ship has set sails.  Crowdfunding with Indiegogo

“Garden of Poetry” The crowdfunding ship has set sails.

Finally the crowdfunding campaign for the “Garden of Poetry” artbook has started. Will you join me? I am excited and curious how it will work out.

Fundraising for my “Garden of Poetry” art book at Indiegogo will start next Sunday, July 14 at 12.00 noon, CEST

If you who want to support my artbook “Giardino delle Poesie” , “Garden of Poetry.

Garden of Poetry, Sculpture "The skin of the water"

Here a glimpse on my sculpture “The skin of the water”

Fuundraising on Indiegogo will start coming Sunday, July 14 at 12 noon, CEST (UTC+2)

I will make public my Indiegogo site where you can support the funding of the artbook.

You may ask yourself why should I support Wolfgang´s fundraising for his book?

Well, one reason and probably the most important is, that you are fond of art and like the idea of a well made book with sculptures and poems.

Another reason is that you receive something in return for your support. And no, it´s not just a virtual hug:-) Discover here all the things you can receive