506C SAMOTHRACE
2012, 20'6" X 77" X 19", 232 WATTS, LACQUERED WOOD, STAINLESS STEEL, COPPER, NEON, INCANDESCENT & FLUORESCENT LIGHTS,
Perhaps out of sight, is out of mind, or in our human species narcissism - they are just pets or food. In building my parallel culture, I have made a number of animal forms, but most have been smallish. For “Samothrace”, I invented a hybrid crested bird with a long beak that ends with a raptor’s hook, and vaguely fox like ears. Just as birds carry food or nesting material, and bee’s pollen, this mythic bird-like creature carrying tubes of glowing plasma gas is a dream of a unity of man and nature. There are two art sources for this sculpture. The first, indicated by the title, is the Winged Victory of Samothrace, and the second, but more important to me, is Umberto Boccioni’s “Unique Forms of Continuity in Space”. Both of these sculptures are heroic in concept, and that risk appeals to me because we see so little of that in western contemporary art. This is probably because it turns up in state sanctioned totalitarian art - and since I am proposing a parallel culture - that should be part of the story.
There are two art sources for this sculpture. The first, indicated by the title, is the Winged Victory of Samothrace, and the second, but more important to me, is Umberto Boccioni’s “Unique Forms of Continuity in Space”.