Phil Price
Little Quattro
2006
Carbon fibre, epoxy, metals, precision bearings
Phil Price started working with plastics, particularly high performance plastics, in sculpture during the 1980s. During that period he was also working in the cycle industry, designing and making bicycles and wheels for racers. For a short time he worked with Kiwi motorcycle designer, John Britten. His interests merged; kinetic sculpture evolved. Brick Bay’s Quattro is one of a suite of kinetic works using modern industrial materials which have won awards for Phil Price both in New Zealand and overseas.
Quattro and Little Quattro are wind-activated. At the top of the vertical base are two sets of elements, each comprised of two twisted wing or blade-like forms. Each of the four elements has an S-shaped line and each one is able to rotate around a vertical axis. When the atmosphere is still, there is a balanced poise to the wings, then, as the breeze flows through the structure and the sculpture is activated, they appear as a series of overlapping arcs. The space between the arcs is activated as it is gently contained and released. It results in a compounding of gentle movements as the arcs open and close against one another. The added helix form in the blades appears like a DNA model.
The idea behind the work has to do with the division of the whole; the play between the highly organized and the abstract. To this end the environment plays an integral role in the life of the sculpture. Phil Price intends that the interaction of his sculpture operates in two ways. There is the kinetic action and there is also the way that the moving parts frame, divide and reflect the natural surroundings and the built environment.
The domestic scale of Phil Price’s Little Quattro is a relatively new venture for him. He is more well-known for the large-scale kinetic works that populate the Auckland Viaduct, the Wellington waterfront and are on show at Connells Bay Sculpture Park and at significant sculpture events such as Sculpture on the Gulf.
Dr. Robin Woodward
*Artist’s statement Brick Bay 2006