Peter Logan
Fandango
1999
Description
The rhythm and fluidity of this mobile sculpture are interrupted occasionally by staccato movements indicative of the Spanish dance after which it is named. In creating this unique combination of metal and motion, Peter Logan explored that great gift of nature, energy from the sun. Using modern materials and technology, he has made a work of great complexity within simple means. Eight pointed shafts and two short tubes of differing dimensions are used to produce a linked structure which has freely moving parts. The sculpture is hung from a wall. The driving power comes from a small solar panel placed where it may receive maximum exposure to the sun.
The metal elements are composed in perfect harmony, so that within the course of their seemingly random movements they never collide. This is a sculpture that performs to order. Touching the lowest point of the wall-mounted shaft provides, through the moisture in a finger tip, enough conduction to start a 45-minute programme of activity. The electric current is imperceptible to the touch, and the amount required by the control panel is only just greater than the electric current produced by our own bodies.
The moving parts of the sculpture are in effect two pendulums which operate in three dimensions. The arcs they describe are programmed and their momentum causes an internal metal spring to be wound and unwound to generate further movement. When eventually the sculpture stops moving, the solar motor reactivates the cycle. The motor also occasionally intervenes to nudge the elements into unpredictable patterns. Precision and chance harmonise in Fandango to move our appreciation between the practical and the poetic.
