DOI Heft:
No. 182 (January 1925)
DOI Artikel:The lay figure
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21402#0066
THE LAY FIGURE: ON THE
ARTIST AND THE MACHINE.
It was, they agreed later, the fault of
the Plain Man for bringing with him
one Still Plainer, and at the same time
even fonder of the sound of his own voice,
who after listening awhile simply occupied,
and gradually emptied, the floor. He
knew, he said, precious little about tech-
nique and so on, but he knew what he
liked. That, of course, made the Critic
sit up. It was very doubtful whether
uninstructed persons ought to know such
things. Occupations would be gone, and
all the rest of it. But it is difficult to
rebuke a complete stranger. 0 0
Even the Young Highbrow only groaned
when the monologist went on to say that
he liked most things worth liking, and
did no more than glare when he added
that this was the case with pretty nearly
everyone. But he remembered another
appointment when the exposition of values
threatened to begin. Not for him the
layman's genuflections before a cow in
Sidney Cooper's manner—unless he might
be permitted a place-kick from the obvious
position. His departing face was eloquent
of regrets. 00000
The others endured in what, by com-
parison with other occasions, might be
called silence a sort of lecture on one
aspect of modern lay taste which presently
focussed itself in the expression of a
need. 000000
Artists in general in their several ways
and mediums were doing plenty of good
work for people's spare time. He could
go out any day and, given the necessary
cash, get an endless variety of beautiful
things for his home. Places of public
recreation, theatres, restaurants, and so
on, managed to please the eye and occupy
the mind sufficiently. 000
But spare time was only a relatively
small part of life-time, most life-time was
dominated by the machine, and what was
the artist's attitude to the machine i
What, for instance, did the present com-
pany think of cash-tills, or roll-top desks,
or card-indexes, or elevators i He would
bet Regent Street to Stoke Poges that
they tried hard not to think of such things,
and that when they had to do so, they
60
talked about the hideousness of the age.
That, he ventured to say, was a great mis-
take, and worse, an avoidance of responsi-
bility, and worse still, a loss of oppor-
tunity. 00000
It was all nonsense to say that the
machine was hideous. It entirely de-
pended on how you looked at it. Why,
to-day's cash-till might be made worthy
to be a collector's item in the year 2125
and worth a leaderette in the paper. Why
not recognise now how much beauty could
be linked up with efficiency and in-
genuity i Then they could make the best
of things in the fullest sense of the
words. 00000
A thing already possessed, or capable,
of some beauty was worthy of the atten-
tion of those whose mission it was to make
beauty flourish. He had sometimes
thought when looking at the roll-top desk
in his office, " Yes, you have your uses
but you are not beautiful or perfect. If,
in your making, more attention had been
paid to proportion, detail and choice of
material, you would not only serve your
purpose better but you would also be
more pleasing to the eye." That, indeed,
got to the core of the whole problem—
artists should look at every-day objects
and especially those of most matter-of-
fact reputation, not as so much " junk "
pre-ordained to dulness by Fate, but as
material for their own work. They would
soon find that the public appreciated their
efforts and gave them the fullest possible
support. 00000
There was proof of this already, on the
poster-hoardings, where art was surely
winning its way. Why, the day might
come when even an " Account Rendered ''
might assume quite a pleasant shape. As
a business man he could assure them that
the artist's aid in inducing prompter
settlement of accounts would not go un-
rewarded. 00000
The Age of the Machine. Yes, it was,
and they had to accept the fact, to realise
the danger of inaction, and counter it by
giving to the machine their sympathetic
study. Having grasped its possibilities as
well as its limitations they could set about
the business of making it help, instead of
hindering, beauty in life. 000
The Lay Figure.
ARTIST AND THE MACHINE.
It was, they agreed later, the fault of
the Plain Man for bringing with him
one Still Plainer, and at the same time
even fonder of the sound of his own voice,
who after listening awhile simply occupied,
and gradually emptied, the floor. He
knew, he said, precious little about tech-
nique and so on, but he knew what he
liked. That, of course, made the Critic
sit up. It was very doubtful whether
uninstructed persons ought to know such
things. Occupations would be gone, and
all the rest of it. But it is difficult to
rebuke a complete stranger. 0 0
Even the Young Highbrow only groaned
when the monologist went on to say that
he liked most things worth liking, and
did no more than glare when he added
that this was the case with pretty nearly
everyone. But he remembered another
appointment when the exposition of values
threatened to begin. Not for him the
layman's genuflections before a cow in
Sidney Cooper's manner—unless he might
be permitted a place-kick from the obvious
position. His departing face was eloquent
of regrets. 00000
The others endured in what, by com-
parison with other occasions, might be
called silence a sort of lecture on one
aspect of modern lay taste which presently
focussed itself in the expression of a
need. 000000
Artists in general in their several ways
and mediums were doing plenty of good
work for people's spare time. He could
go out any day and, given the necessary
cash, get an endless variety of beautiful
things for his home. Places of public
recreation, theatres, restaurants, and so
on, managed to please the eye and occupy
the mind sufficiently. 000
But spare time was only a relatively
small part of life-time, most life-time was
dominated by the machine, and what was
the artist's attitude to the machine i
What, for instance, did the present com-
pany think of cash-tills, or roll-top desks,
or card-indexes, or elevators i He would
bet Regent Street to Stoke Poges that
they tried hard not to think of such things,
and that when they had to do so, they
60
talked about the hideousness of the age.
That, he ventured to say, was a great mis-
take, and worse, an avoidance of responsi-
bility, and worse still, a loss of oppor-
tunity. 00000
It was all nonsense to say that the
machine was hideous. It entirely de-
pended on how you looked at it. Why,
to-day's cash-till might be made worthy
to be a collector's item in the year 2125
and worth a leaderette in the paper. Why
not recognise now how much beauty could
be linked up with efficiency and in-
genuity i Then they could make the best
of things in the fullest sense of the
words. 00000
A thing already possessed, or capable,
of some beauty was worthy of the atten-
tion of those whose mission it was to make
beauty flourish. He had sometimes
thought when looking at the roll-top desk
in his office, " Yes, you have your uses
but you are not beautiful or perfect. If,
in your making, more attention had been
paid to proportion, detail and choice of
material, you would not only serve your
purpose better but you would also be
more pleasing to the eye." That, indeed,
got to the core of the whole problem—
artists should look at every-day objects
and especially those of most matter-of-
fact reputation, not as so much " junk "
pre-ordained to dulness by Fate, but as
material for their own work. They would
soon find that the public appreciated their
efforts and gave them the fullest possible
support. 00000
There was proof of this already, on the
poster-hoardings, where art was surely
winning its way. Why, the day might
come when even an " Account Rendered ''
might assume quite a pleasant shape. As
a business man he could assure them that
the artist's aid in inducing prompter
settlement of accounts would not go un-
rewarded. 00000
The Age of the Machine. Yes, it was,
and they had to accept the fact, to realise
the danger of inaction, and counter it by
giving to the machine their sympathetic
study. Having grasped its possibilities as
well as its limitations they could set about
the business of making it help, instead of
hindering, beauty in life. 000
The Lay Figure.