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Lot Essay
George Rickey combines the crisp metal of machinery with unseen forces of nature in his sculpture Rotors and Tourmaline, 1964. A reliance on wind, gravity, and inertia is inherent to his creative process. Rickey's series of "rotor" sculptures generate an energy through their dynamic and constant movement.
The "rotor" series, begun in 1958, uses pivots, pendulums, and gimbals in order to produce an ever-changing movement within the whole of a sculpture. The small rotors consist of radial elements similar to tiny propellers within an encompassing circumference. Rickey connected rotors to vertical axes, a system which allowed each axis to tilt and swing like a pendulum, while spinning freely. Each rotor, with its own center of gravity, is able to rotate at different and changing speeds, in alternate directions, varying with the angle attributed to the radial elements per rotor. Rickey alludes to plants swaying and fluttering with a breeze amidst the mechanical material of his sculptural creations.
Rickey's sculptures always rely on air to naturally move the elements, rather than motorized gestures. He observes the laws and limitations of nature and recognizes their ability to control movement, balance, and gravity. Rickey declared, "I began very early to learn to control the natural period of movement of components. I knew what a pendulum was and I realized that it didn't have to be shaped like a pendulum. I could balance components in any of a large number of ways and control the natural periods of oscillation by controlling the weight. But friction had to be very low. It is low friction and control of weight that I think of as being my means rather than balance" (Rickey quoted in George Rickey, Maxwell Davidson Gallery, New York: November-December 1980, unpaginated). Although the shape and demeanor of the structure at rest retains aesthetic value, the sculpture Rotors and Tourmaline becomes itself when in motion.
The "rotor" series, begun in 1958, uses pivots, pendulums, and gimbals in order to produce an ever-changing movement within the whole of a sculpture. The small rotors consist of radial elements similar to tiny propellers within an encompassing circumference. Rickey connected rotors to vertical axes, a system which allowed each axis to tilt and swing like a pendulum, while spinning freely. Each rotor, with its own center of gravity, is able to rotate at different and changing speeds, in alternate directions, varying with the angle attributed to the radial elements per rotor. Rickey alludes to plants swaying and fluttering with a breeze amidst the mechanical material of his sculptural creations.
Rickey's sculptures always rely on air to naturally move the elements, rather than motorized gestures. He observes the laws and limitations of nature and recognizes their ability to control movement, balance, and gravity. Rickey declared, "I began very early to learn to control the natural period of movement of components. I knew what a pendulum was and I realized that it didn't have to be shaped like a pendulum. I could balance components in any of a large number of ways and control the natural periods of oscillation by controlling the weight. But friction had to be very low. It is low friction and control of weight that I think of as being my means rather than balance" (Rickey quoted in George Rickey, Maxwell Davidson Gallery, New York: November-December 1980, unpaginated). Although the shape and demeanor of the structure at rest retains aesthetic value, the sculpture Rotors and Tourmaline becomes itself when in motion.