Lifecasting - Lifecasting and Art

Lifecasting and Art

Lifecasting is considered a sculptural art by some, while others think it is more a technical skill and the work of artisans. Critics of lifecasting as an art claim that it lacks the talent or creativity that more conventional sculptural disciplines require. This criticism echoes that heard in artistic circles during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries relating to photography. In fact lifecasting has been called a three-dimensional type of photography. As with photographs, lifecasts are sometimes manipulated, altered and incorporated with other media. Lifecasters are united only by the fact that each work starts with a lifecast. Artistic choices begin with choice of model, of pose, and of area of the body shown. Defining the edge is clearly a sculptural act. Probably the most popular alteration is to add paint and various finishes to the surface of the lifecast. Duane Hanson is the best-known contemporary sculptor to use lifecasting in his works. He perfectly reproduced the entire body including hair and skintone. His "everyman" works were dressed and posed to look like unexceptional people.