What sounds like the name of a strange animal or object is actually a pretty old-fashioned English adjective referring to something in a diagonal position or arrangement, crooked, or out of shape, but also remarkable and impressive. Certainly, the namesake sculpture by environmental artist Patrick Dougherty at the Arboretum in Arcadia, California, is all of the above.
What looks like a large-scale nest built by “a flock of birds [that] have been sneaking performance enhancing drugs,” as the artist describes it is, indeed, an impressive man-made sculpture that consists of a truckload full of willow saplings that have been meticulously woven into shape. Entirely integrating, in terms of scale and aesthetics, into the park surroundings, the sculpture yet remains singular in its perfection.
The organic silhouette of the sculpture, made up of a myriad of different shapes on the outside, is actually a series of connected rooms and spaces when walking inside. Set up like a labyrinth, every room features window-like openings and crevices offering unusual vistas of the surrounding area and the sky above. The sculpture effortlessly combines a “natural, outdoor” experience and the sense of a piece of thoroughly orchestrated architecture.
Alluding to the fact that we all have an innate knowledge about wood and sticks from the days before the building supply store, Dougherty says, “My work plays with that familiarity and attempts to stir the imagination of passersby and reminds them of childhood play, an experience with a favorite tree, or perhaps a special moment on a garden path.” This attempted effect can be felt when watching children that are immediately tempted to climb and play, while adults are rather lured into resting and reminiscing.
Link:
www.stickwork.net
