Pivot Wing
Wood, steel, copper
This work evokes a sense of wonder within technological elements that respond to the natural world.
Three interconnecting forms compose an exploration of balance, movement and interconnection. The largest piece is an arc of laminated timber that visually suggests a wing, dome, or airborne seed. This is set into a hardwood column, carved at the top into a functioning gear. The wing rests on a pivot support in the top of the column; in response to air currents the wing can move freely. Attached to the wing is a copper pinion, which meshes with the hardwood gear to spin as it traverses around the column. The elements are in a loop of interconnection.
The column supports the wing, moving in the air; the pinion on its support reaches back and meshes again with the gear in the column.
The spinning pinion gear resembles a circular temple. The symbols of temple and machinery represent the contrary ideas of sacred and profane; they are brought together under the arc of organic wood, a shape which evokes shelter and protection.
Gears and machinery are often symbols for difficult complexity, but here, they express the intertwining systems of the natural world. Beauty and complexity can coexist; the complex networks of the natural world show us this. The biological and planetary systems that sustain us interweave grace with complexity, and elegance arises from their harmony.
Three interconnecting forms compose an exploration of balance, movement and interconnection. The largest piece is an arc of laminated timber that visually suggests a wing, dome, or airborne seed. This is set into a hardwood column, carved at the top into a functioning gear. The wing rests on a pivot support in the top of the column; in response to air currents the wing can move freely. Attached to the wing is a copper pinion, which meshes with the hardwood gear to spin as it traverses around the column. The elements are in a loop of interconnection.
The column supports the wing, moving in the air; the pinion on its support reaches back and meshes again with the gear in the column.
The spinning pinion gear resembles a circular temple. The symbols of temple and machinery represent the contrary ideas of sacred and profane; they are brought together under the arc of organic wood, a shape which evokes shelter and protection.
Gears and machinery are often symbols for difficult complexity, but here, they express the intertwining systems of the natural world. Beauty and complexity can coexist; the complex networks of the natural world show us this. The biological and planetary systems that sustain us interweave grace with complexity, and elegance arises from their harmony.
