Full Idea
Presumably it is claimed that the artist 'created' the statue because the object created is essentially a statue, and thus cannot be identified with the unformed lump of clay with which the artist began.
Gist of Idea
Artists 'create' statues because they are essentially statues, and so lack identity with the lump of clay
Source
Theodore Sider (Four Dimensionalism [2001])
Book Reference
Sider,Theodore: 'Four Dimensionalism' [OUP 2003], p.162
A Reaction
This is based on Burke's views. This is sortal essentialism, rather than my own view of essence as an inner explanatory mechanism or form. If an old abstract sculpture was no longer recognised as a statue, would it necessarily still be a statue?
Related Idea
Idea 14751 Tib goes out of existence when the tail is lost, because Tib was never the 'cat' [Burke,M, by Sider]