Reflex

Sculpture

-

Calvin University Center Art Gallery

The image features a vintage horizontal radio antenna mounted on a textured wall, with a metallic frame and red vial-shaped lights aligned along its length. The setup includes a coiled black wire and a small attached control box containing labeled switches and possibly tuning instructions.

The image features a vintage horizontal radio antenna mounted on a textured wall, with a metallic frame and red vial-shaped lights aligned along its length. The setup includes a coiled black wire and a small attached control box containing labeled switches and possibly tuning instructions.

Name/Title

Reflex

Entry/Object ID

2002.11.3

Description

Rows of small vials filled with red liquid lined in a metal box attached to the wall. Attached to the box is a light switch and a smaller box which has a paragraph of writing.

Type of Sculpture

Relief

Artwork Details

Medium

acrylic, aluminum, vials, fluorescent light, text

Category

On-Display at Calvin University, Objects, Text

Made/Created

Artist

Peter Stanfield

Date made

2002

Dimensions

Height

5 in

Width

53 in

Depth

5 in

General Notes

Note

Expanded Wall Label: The box-shaped constructions that Peter Stanfield creates draw on a creative combination of art, mathematics, and physics. Stanfield obsessively overbuilds his pieces and creates accompanying texts that accentuate his interest in technology and nature. Thus his boxes use the familiar visual language of mechanical devices (switches, lights, cords, etc.) so that to viewers they look as though they should “do something.” Yet, like most technology, do they perform an essential or a practical function? In each piece he aims to find meaning in the chaos of this world, through an exploration of the essential and yet problematic relationship between humans and technology.