Marker
1973
30' x 7.5' x 2.5'. Roving woven fiberglass in 1" thick clear polyester resin, galvanized steel cables (3/16" Dia.), acrylic tubes, ring-eye screw bolts, two steel collars (1/2" Dia.) and six setscrews.
Physically, "Marker" consists of a cast slab, cables and fittings. Over a period of a few days I sprayed approximately 1" of polyester into three layers of roving woven fiberglass on a concrete floor inside an air-supported tarp, embedding within the full length of the lay up two 1/4" ID acrylic tubes, parallel to each other and 3' apart, centered within the slab. A few errant insects also flew in of their own accord. Once cured I cut the sides the full length at one foot from each of the tubes leaving the ends uncut and uneven as sprayed up in a natural break introducing a notion of continuity. The slab, then 15' x 5', was sanded on both surfaces and cut at 10' from the lower end into two sections at an angle calculated so that, upon installation, this cut would remain singularly horizontal while the posture of the piece gestures assertively to one side, shifting one inch per foot of rise. The two pairs of cables which are attached to the floor and ceiling by ring-eye screw bolts cross each other at mid-point while being held tautly in tension from above the ceiling.
As seen from the side Marker appears as a faintly visible symmetrical tracing of an "X" marking a point or a moment in space. Also from that vantage, exiting from the upper levels of the Art Center Theater where it is installed, this transparency allows the landscape beyond to play a part. From another angle however, its planes take the stage emphatically, anchored in space gesturing skyward as some translucent Perseus might, or as a Moai, there simply offering an attentive presence.
At the vertically bisecting horizontal intersection, its 'horizon', cables pass in and out; the forward pair of cables that controls the direction of the lower section pass out of it here and up freely to the ceiling. Here also the direction controlling function is passed from the forward pair to the rear pair as the latter enters the upper slab, perhaps as a baton is passed on in a relay race. The weight of the upper section rests here on the lower section. The weight of both sections is then born at its origin at the bottom of the lower slab by 1/2" collars fastened to the cables by the six setscrews.
Among other things, "Marker" marks a moment as power passes, nodding to origins, while intimating generational resonances.
As seen from the side Marker appears as a faintly visible symmetrical tracing of an "X" marking a point or a moment in space. Also from that vantage, exiting from the upper levels of the Art Center Theater where it is installed, this transparency allows the landscape beyond to play a part. From another angle however, its planes take the stage emphatically, anchored in space gesturing skyward as some translucent Perseus might, or as a Moai, there simply offering an attentive presence.
At the vertically bisecting horizontal intersection, its 'horizon', cables pass in and out; the forward pair of cables that controls the direction of the lower section pass out of it here and up freely to the ceiling. Here also the direction controlling function is passed from the forward pair to the rear pair as the latter enters the upper slab, perhaps as a baton is passed on in a relay race. The weight of the upper section rests here on the lower section. The weight of both sections is then born at its origin at the bottom of the lower slab by 1/2" collars fastened to the cables by the six setscrews.
Among other things, "Marker" marks a moment as power passes, nodding to origins, while intimating generational resonances.