shadowline
An Whitlock
October 11, 1989 – April 15, 1990
An Whitlock, shadowline, 1989; 16 gauge perforated mild steel, steel bar, steel box tubing, wood; 12' W x 12' H x 20' L; 11 Mount Batten junipers
Artist Statement
The idea of depriving steel of its usual muscularity through the act of perforation interests me. It is precisely the absent material that activates shadowline.
A plan view of the work can be described as two lines intersecting one another at 90 degrees, forming a cross shape. Three of four cross sections are constructed of 10' tall, steel-framed perforated metal walls, with narrow openings on the ends of each section forming interior perforated metal rectangles. The fourth section is longer: it is 'open' and contains a ladder which penetrates the structure's core. One direction of the cross shape has an opaque peaked roof. The project is painted black.
Although the work alludes to some of the conventions of domestic architecture, it is not a shelter. Your eyes are able to penetrate the structure, but your body is not; it is both familiar and unexpected.
Some of my earlier constructions of sewn weld-wire have been discussed using the word 'drawing'. shadowline - black, strangely transparent, in the sun, on some snow, making itself twice, in shadow, on snow - may be seen as a large drawing. Your eyes are drawn to it by the active moiré created as your body passes the work.
In an attempt to soften the rawness of a new structure on the site, and to provide the work with a history, as well as to further emphasize the idea of 'garden', I found it necessary to plant some trees.
Perhaps shadowline is a place-name, a street sign, a mysterious location glimpsed by a watcher from the window of a passing train.
