Arabesque
mechanical kaleidoscope
Composite Plastic, Steel, Industrial Computer, Compressed Air Components
4.5m x 4.5m x 1.5m
In my recent work I have concerned myself not only with the sculpting of three dimensions but also with a fourth: the dimension of time. I have attempted to create work that evolves, adapts and regresses. Work which falls somewhere between conventional notions of pictorial art and a kind of performance. “Arabesque” is the natural continuation of this exploration – a real time animation.
With its roots in Mary Shelly’s “Frankenstein” and the alchemist’s laboratory, the installation presents itself as a mechanical flower: a simulacrum of nature. Life sized human body parts, impaled upon steel, move and sway and dance. The limbs, translucent and livid, bare their internal robotic mechanisms to the gaze of the viewer. The wiring itself is an aesthetic expression deliberately integrated into the installation to bring chaotic lines of abstract form to contrast with the organized symmetry of the body parts.
The lifeblood of this organism is air and when activated this air flows invisibly, bestowing movement to these mechanisms and its presence is only betrayed when exhaled loudly from the valves attached to the serpentine air hose. This combined with the rattle of relays and the tandem clattering of pistons to produce a hyper-modern accompaniment to the music of Strauss.
Part cinema, part theatre, “Arabesque” can be viewed form a multitude of angles, revealing a kaleidoscope of beautiful shapes and patterns created from the human form.