The Quantum Cloud XXXIII, by Antony Gormley, was on display at the Denver Art Museum as part of the Modern and Contemporary Art Collection, in the Hamilton Building. It is an indoor installation that stands 326 cm in height, 153 cm in width, and 147 cm in length. It composed primarily of dark matted stainless steel bars that are 6cm x 6cm in size. The subject matter is an abstraction or nonrepresentational of human figure standing with arms raised and being encompassed by a cloud which is represented by geometric lines projecting outward or inward radially from the human figure. The human figure is an actual cast of the artist, and the stainless steel bars forms the density and volume of the figure. The appearance of a cloud that surrounds the figure is expressed by lines entering or exiting the figure at random locations. The lines are formed by the same material as the human figure, dark matted stainless steel bars. The content of the installation is that the human body is a focus or well of pure energy (inorganic) and vitality (organic); and these energies can form a human from within or disperse from it.
Born in London, England in 1950, and grew up in Hampstead Garden Suburb, North London, Gormley attended Ampleforth College, and Trinity College, Cambridge (Gormley). He completed his postgraduate degree at the Slade School of Art, University College London in 1979. He won the Turner Prize in 1994 for his Field for British Isles which consisted of 35,000 individual terracotta figures ranging from 8 to 26cm high, on a floor facing the viewer (Gormley). The Field for British Isles was part of an exhibition at Torre Abbey, Torquay, England. He was also given the honor as an Order of the British Empire in 1997. His first monolithic statue was the Havmannen (1995). The Havmannen is 11 meters tall human figure, composed of granite stone placed in the Ranfjord of northern Norway(Wikipedia). Its success lead to a series of human figure statue projects placed in and around where people live and work, like Another Place in 1997, and the Quantum Cloud in 1999. The Quantum Cloud is a 30 meters tall sculpture constructed of tetrahedral forms of steel bars. It was installed near the Millennium Dome in London. The Quantum Cloud XXXIII is a conceptual derivative of the Millennium Dome outdoor installation.
For the most of his creations, Gormley has taken on the role as analyst and seeks to reveal a hidden or universal truth about the human condition or state of being. He chooses a non-descript human figure either standing, crouching or sitting, created out of lead, stainless steel, or iron. The choice of a metallic, neutral, nude figure forces the viewer to place his or her impressions or feeling onto the figure, and it shows that the artist is investigating an internal process, idea or feeling regarding the human state of being. The figure does not make an impression onto the viewer beside its stance or positioning and contextual placement. In an interview with F. David Peat, on June 4, 1996, Gormley says, “The impossible thing I'm trying to do is accept that we live in the world of the visible but make it unsatisfactory enough that behind the visible is some other kind of potential that does not exist in the sculpture but exists in you the viewer.” He hints or acknowledges that there is something hidden by the “visible” and he seeks to revel it.
For Quantum Cloud XXXIII, Gormley chooses to use casting and modeling to form and rigid stainless steel, as the medium, to construct the installation. The contour of the human figure is made from the life-like cast. The interior space of the cast is filled with the lattice work of dark matted stainless steel bars. The layered crossing of the steel bars forms the appearance of density and mass of the human figure. The cloud appears present by allowing random steel bars to extend outward from the internal lattice work of the human figure.
Gormley uses the analytical line exclusively to form the both the internal structure and the exterior space of the installation. The only curved or expressive line is the contour of the human figure. The hue of the piece is very dark and contrasts with the white, well-lit background of the museum space it resides in. Time, at first, does not seem to be an element of the work but if the viewer perceives the standing figure as in motion, then the installation appears to be a formation leading to the dispersion of a human figure, with the steel bars representing the pathways of energy. By perceiving time, the title of the work becomes evident. The viewer “sees” on a subatomic level the formation or disintegration of energy or emotion. Quantum implies a subatomic level and cloud references the orbital space of the electron around an atom (Griffin 393). When applying the quantum physics interpretation, the human figure becomes a summation of atoms with orbitals that creates a cloud containing energy or a dispersion of energy emanating in different directions. Overall, the work is symmetrically balanced and possesses a sense of unity with the surrounding environment. The composition does communicate a feeling of empowerment and presence.
The conceptual design and expression of the Quantum Cloud XXXIII appeals because it’s an ideal of the human body being intricately composed of energies and extremely full with vitality that can affect the surrounding environment by emanating or absorbing, physically or metaphysically. The ideas and feelings expressed in the Quantum Cloud XXXIII is not a new way seeing or understanding the function of the human body as a well of negative or positive energy emanating in all directions to find a positive source of energy. This social theory has been employed by writers and artists of Marvel Comics, DC Comics and creators of a plethora of video games. Heroic characters like The Might Thor, Hulk, Green Lantern, Batman,and Superman are portrayed as possessing an internal focus of energy that seeks out to destroy its opposite or opposing well of light or energy, such as Loki, Doc Sampson, Sinestro, and Lex Luthor. A good example is Thor & Loki: Blood Brothers, a motion comic by Marvel Knights Animation based on a graphic novel (miniseries) by Esad Ribic. Through out the motion comic series, Loki dicusses and revels on a "subatomic" level his dynamically opposing relationship with his brother, Thor (video insert). Another great example is Batman's Black and White series from DC Motion Comics. (video insert)
By using this type of dichotomy for heroes and villains, very dramatic, believable, and entertaining storytelling can occur in print and in film. In the article by Flintoff, Gormley is quoted as saying, “The challenge now is to offer back to people the same freedom that art took for itself. I love abstract expressionism; it showed it was possible to do anything. We don’t have to continue making perfect copies of gods and kings. Art can be a pure expression of forms of being alive.”
By using this type of dichotomy for heroes and villains, very dramatic, believable, and entertaining storytelling can occur in print and in film. In the article by Flintoff, Gormley is quoted as saying, “The challenge now is to offer back to people the same freedom that art took for itself. I love abstract expressionism; it showed it was possible to do anything. We don’t have to continue making perfect copies of gods and kings. Art can be a pure expression of forms of being alive.”
Quantum Cloud XXXIII by Antony Gormley
Works Cited:
Flintoff, John-Paul. “Antony Gormley, the who broke the mould.” The Times Online. 2 Mar. 2008. Times Newspapers LTD. 22 Nov. 2009 <http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article3444837.ece>
Peat, F. David. “Interview: Antony Gormley.” 6 Jun 1996. Pari Center for New Learning. 22 Nov 2009 <http://www.fdavidpeat.com/interviews/gormley.htm>
“New Works.” 2001. Norkenhake. 22 Nov. 2009 <http://www.nordenhake.com/php/artistsExhibitions.php?id=14>
“Case Study: The Design and Analysis of Quantum Cloud.” 2009. LUSAS. 22 Nov. 2009 <http://www.lusas.com/case/civil/gormley.html>
Griffith, W. Thomas. The Physics of Everyday Phenomena. 5th Edition. New York: Mcgraw-Hill, 2007
“Antony Gormley.” 2009. Antony Gormley. 22 Nov. 2009 <http://www.antonygormley.com>"Antony Gormley."2016. 24 Sept. 2016<https://www.artsy.net/artist/antony-gormley>
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