Apple P40, a 1/4 life-size bronze torso by Blake.

I saw a tiny dark image of this picture today on page 126 of my April 21 copy of The New Yorker Magazine, and went to the website "Blakefragments.com" where there are 3 views of this sculpture plus one or two others. It's an excellent example of how ancient Greek torsos, which are fragments created by both natural and man-made destruction, have inspired modern sculptors to create them ab ovo, so to speak, not only for their inherent beauty, but also as haunting reminders of our own mortality, whether from the ravages of nature or the horrors of war.

Indeed, for Blake, it is not Nature that is the enemy, but Man himself, especially when made even more inhuman by the powers of modern war, as in the firebombing of the men, women and children of Vietnam.

This is one of a dozen 1/4 life-size torsos by Blake (he doesn't use his first name), a Canadian sculptor who specializes in bronze figure sculpture and who has donated this and 11 other such torsos for a London exhibition called "Blake's Fragments" May 19-20, 2008, at Saint Ethelburga's.

They are all for sale, and the entire proceeds from the show are being donated to fund landmine clearance through the United Nations Association programs Adopt-A-Minefield and No-More-Landmines.

From the exibition announcement:
"Blake's mutilated yet hauntingly beautiful bodies were inspired by his experiences in post-war Vietnam where he witnessed the tragedy of landmines. The exhibition's broken bodies speak of the tragic effect of military waste on society.

"Landmines and unexploded ordnance are a global problem and our generations' legacy. Fragments sculptures are a part of the solution and have already cleared landmines, cluster bombs and other unexploded weapons from communities and villages in Vietnam. In Angola, Fragments sculptures have funded equipment to map the location of mine fields.

Everyday, at 4 pm during the Fragments show in London, the sculptor Blake will speak of the social responsibility of the artist and the remnants of war that are his inspiration."

For more information please go to: www.blakefragments.com
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http://www.blakefragments.com