Thalès au pied de la spirale
Pierre Granche
May 3 – July 3, 1988
Pierre Granche, Thalès au pied de la spirale, 1988; galvanized steel; approximately 8' H x 24' diameter
Artist Statement
This complex sculpture is made of related elements which form a spiral whose volume increases as it spins out into space. The form is modulated by a series of arches which expand in consonance with the whole. The geometric spiral shape, symbolically and historically significant, resounds as an ideal form in contrast to its visually disparate surroundings. The formal properties of the spiral - its volume at once both open and closed, both centrifugal and centripetal - interact with the ambient architecture, itself created from the same geometric forms. The work is fabricated from galvanized iron, able to absorb and reflect subtle patterns of shadow and light, thereby adding spatial resonance to the elements of the installation.
The spiral becomes a listening post, an inner ear which opens to the outside world and absorbs the multiple sounds and irrepressible matter of the city. Spinning out from this formal spiral are a sampling of the diversity of the environs: fragments of buildings and structures, dogs sheltered under diminishing archways, trees from the natural landscape. Although the sculpture is confined to a restricted space anchored to an imaginary centre, it is nevertheless capable of projecting unbounded space, growing infinitely in circumference, or conversely, recalling the microscopic interior world by circling into itself.
The Ontario-Quebec Commission for Co-operation provided additional funding for this exhibition.
