Sculpture voters take a 'Quantum' leap Posted: Wednesday, Jun 13, 2007 - 04:55:36 pm PDT By Matthew Weaver Herald senior staff writer
Winning artist feels piece represents scientific art 'breakthrough'
MOSES LAKE -- The Moses Lake Museum and Art Center
recently announced the winner of its second annual Sculpture Without
Walls competition.
Museum representative Ramon Cerna estimated
the Peoples Choice Award-winning "Quantum Man" sculpture, by Julian
Voss-Andreae, received about 20 percent more votes than the other
artistic displays up for consideration during the past year.
"It
feels good because it's an ongoing process," Cerna said. "What I'm
pleased about is people did get out there and vote. That's always nice.
Our votes were a little bit more than last year, so it's increasing a
little bit."
Cerna said it seemed like there was more public
interest in the program this year, with people taking the time to check
out the various sculptures, but it was still a relatively small number
of participants by comparison to the city's total population.
Voss-Andreae, a Portland, Ore., artist, said via e-mail from Germany he had no idea his piece was selected.
"I
am very excited about this, especially since 'Quantum Man' feels a
little bit like a breakthrough for me in merging my interests in
scientifically-inspired art with my interest in art focusing on the
human being," he said.
The sculpture, an image of a walking
human made up of thin, vertically-oriented steel sheets, was already
covered by Science Magazine, which Voss-Andreae described as one of the
world's leading science journals.
"But having it selected by art
lovers from all walks of life instead of a scientifically trained
audience is especially rewarding," he said.
The sculpture
appears on page 913, in the Volume 313, Aug. 18, 2006, issue of the
magazine, according to Voss-Andreae's Web site.
Voss-Andreae
feels the selection confirms he reached his goal to create a sculpture
which makes sense within a scientific context, and also as an art
object in its own right.
"According to quantum physics, the world is fundamentally quite different than it seems," he said.
Matter can be demonstrated to have a wave-like quality associated with its motion, he said as an example.
"Quantum
physics describes a moving object as consisting of waves oriented
perpendicular to its direction of motion," he said. "Symbolizing the
dual nature of matter with the appearance of classic reality on the
surface and cloudy quantum behavior underneath, the sculpture seems to
consist of solid dark steel when seen from the front, but dissolves
into almost nothing when seen from the side."
"It's a piece
that's interesting to look at," Cerna said. "It's not something
recognizable, so there's a curiosity as to what it is. Once you start
looking at it, it's interesting the way it's put together. You do get
the sense it's a figure. It's cool the way you walk around it or walk
past it, it changes."
Voss-Andreae decided to participate in the
Sculpture Without Walls because he felt it was a good opportunity to
share his work in Central Eastern Washington State, he said.
Cerna
said the City of Moses Lake is in the process of purchasing the
sculpture. It will be moved from its spot outside the Moses Lake Public
Library on Fifth Avenue to Sinkiuse Square until finding a location
where it may stay for a few years, Cerna said.
The next batch of
exhibits for the Sculpture Without Walls program is being sorted
through, following a June 2 entry deadline. Those sculptures will be
unveiled in September, Cerna said.