The Colour Inventions are vertical constructions. Like the Nannorrhops, they are a little like small standing figures, but the inventions are more self-contained or self-referential, something like introverts as compared to extraverts. Inventions afford the viewer a unique experience of colour. Each construction is composed of group of colours which work together as a whole without diminishing any one hue. There are no redundant or passive colours.
Seen against the myriad colours and tones of the natural background, the smooth, consistently-saturated coloured surfaces of the cylinders stand out. They are insistently, noticeably different. Here are three different views of one invention (use arrows to move forward and back).
Like all the pieces I have made in the last 10 years, the Colour Inventions are made to be in a natural environment. The decision to make the coloured surfaces cylindrical was based on the need for strength, low wind resistance and a smooth finish.
These objects exert what could be described as a magnetic attraction on me. They act as a lure, drawing my attention specifically to the colour, and setting up the conditions for an experience of specifically visual perception. A viewer paying close attention to the three dimensional surfaces will want to move around them, and the resulting perception of the apparent change of colour can be considered as a kind of narrative. Looking becomes a time-based experience. As the viewer moves slowly around the structure, the view shifts, more colours come into view, and a memory is retained of the colour which has slipped out of sight. The memory of one colour contrasts with the colour in immediate perception, which in turn contrasts the colour just coming into view. Looking at the curving surfaces, the eye will find vertical horizons, changing as the eye skims and moves across the surfaces. Sometimes one colour seems to be floating away from its support.
It is like listening to music very attentively.
Really looking without prejudice is difficult. One way of going about it is to try to let the coloured surfaces look at you, in the same way you can let music sing to you. No one listens to music aggressively, nor should anyone glare at colours as if they were hostile or capable of making anyone feel inadequate. The current term is mindfulness, or being in the present moment. This is very hard to do in our western culture. I think that just trying not to be anxious is a good start, trying not to worry about what it is, this thing in front of me, about what this crazy man has made.
