Angela Bulloch Heavy Metal Stack of Four: Red Monster, 2017
Mild steel, paint
240 x 110 x 90 cm (94 1/2 x 43 1/4 x 35 3/8 in) (sculpture)
1 x 125 x 125 cm (3/8 x 49 1/4 x 49 1/4 in) (base plate)
1 x 125 x 125 cm (3/8 x 49 1/4 x 49 1/4 in) (base plate)
Suitable for indoor installation, Heavy Metal Stack of Four: Red Monster is a sculpture composed of four assembled geometrical figures known as polyhedra. Made from steel, the surface of the vertically assembled rhomboid shapes, painted in a combination of light, bright or dark colors creates an optical illusion of pushing and pulling planes.
Conceived and designed within a digital imaging program, each superimposed rhombus appears distinct while at the same time relating to the others. From one side the irregular aspect dominates, while from another the impression of a certain totemic regularity prevails.
Drawing on her previous experiments with geometrical distortion, Bulloch has expanded the range of forms and sizes of her Metal Stacks. The title and appearance of Heavy Metal Stack of Four (four rhomboid elements organized in a pyramid-like shape) invoke the idea of an anthropomorphic presence. By changing the appearance of the column in accordance to one’s point of view, Bulloch plays with our perception of sculpture. In order to envision the work in its entirety the viewer has to turn around it, which at times seems graphic—almost abstract—shifting between two and three dimensions. Here, the artist transfers major themes of Minimalism into the present, and more specifically the aesthetic exploration of objects’ influence on spatial perception.