George Cutts

Description

Two barley-twist columns of unequal girth rotate on their vertical axes, one clockwise, the other counter-clockwise. The wider column has at its apex a sphere which appears to balance precariously, like a ball on the nose of a circus seal. Such literal description denies the poetry and rhythm of the sculpture which comes to life when the columns are in motion - they dance together, intimate but keeping a constant distance.

Reflections in the highly polished stainless steel, interesting when static, are lyrical when seen against the moving rippled surface: they appear to expand and contract, rise and fall, explode and implode according to one's view. Such a sculpture is always different, reflecting seasonal qualities of the woodland or changing light throughout the day, colours of the viewer's clothing, moonlight or the rays of the sun.

A distant view is engaging because of the brightness of the sculpture, but also because of its enigmatic kinetic qualities. Even close up it is difficult to tell how the sculpture works and which way the separate elements turn. This is all a part of the game that George Cutts plays with our perceptions, because the work draws us in however perplexed we may be by the mechanics of movement when applied to shape and form which are already endowed with curve and twist in their static state.

Of the three kinetic sculptures commissioned from George Cutts by Sculpture at Goodwood, this is the most solidly sculptural while maintaining an equally magical presence.