CUBE4. Lower Hutt. New Zealand.
S 41° 14.085 E 174° 54.335
60G E 324477 N 5433067
The artwork Cube4, by Waiheke Island sculptor Aiko Groot, is a dynamic, interactive sculpture which can be changed by turning handles on each side.
Waymark Code: WM898A
Location: North Island, New Zealand
Date Posted: 02/21/2010
Views: 23
Four aluminium cubes on the base concrete plinth stand nearly eight metres tall and can be made to tilt by people cranking handles at waist level on each side.
The towering CUBE4 sculpture stands nearly eight metres tall and is located outside the new Pelorus Trust Sportshouse at Hutt Park. Its site makes it very accessible to park users as well as highly visible to commuters on the busy Seaview roundabout.
Its four aluminium cubes can be separately moved by activating the crank handles in the concrete plinth, dramatically changing its form. It will respond differently to an individual turning just one handle than to a ‘team’ of four people working all four handles.
The minimalist aesthetic of the sculpture belies the complex engineering inside. Groot has modified the hydraulic pump and gearbox technology usually found in tractors or similar machinery to enable the vertically-stacked cubes to tilt in precarious angles.
Many kinetic (moving) sculptures rely on the action of computers, water, wind or sun to move so this large-scale, human-driven one is very special, according to artist Aiko Groot.
ARTIST'S COMMENTS: "Kinetic sculptor Aiko Groot says:
“I design and build almost exclusively kinetic (moving) sculptures that encourage a multitude of interpretations. These works are in many ways a reflection of my own ambiguous relationship with technology. I find gizmos of any sort extraordinarily interesting yet I am deeply aware of their often superfluous and de-humanising nature. There is of course an unmistakable irony in exploring this love/hate relationship with machines by making more of them. This has led me to pursue a re-humanisation of the technical/mechanical; a search for the personality in the machine.”
“The permutations range from graceful to precarious, behaviour that belies its rigid and minimal aesthetic. Behaviour that is entirely at the whim of the observer, becasue it is the observer that powers this piece by direct interaction.”
“Each handle affects one cube only. To achieve the full range of motion requires a collective effort, friends or strangers working together, perhaps interspersed with moments to catch breath and discuss the results achieved.”
“Modernism is not immune to someone kicking a soccer ball against the walls - even a tilt slab factory comes to life thanks to the people who spend their days there.”" quoted from Hutt City Council Website.
Title of Piece: CUBE4
Artist: Aiko Groot
Material/Media: Aluminium on a concrete base.
Date of Creation or Placement: October 2008.
Location (specific park, transit center, library, etc.): Outside the Sportshouse at Hutt Park, Lower Hutt.
Web link(s) for additional information: [Web Link]
Web link(s) to YouTube or other video: Not listed
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