Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008)
Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008)

Eco-Echo IX

細節
Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008)
Eco-Echo IX
signed and dated 'RAUSCHENBERG 92' (on the central wheel); titled and dated again 'ECO-ECHO 92-93' (on the front edge of the base)
silkscreen inks on aluminum and Plexiglas, steel, electric motor, bicycle wheel, bicycle chain, anodized steel and hardware
89 x 73¼ x 24 in. (226 x 186 x 60.9 cm.)
Executed in 1992-1993.
來源
Acquired from the artist by the present owner
出版
M. Kushner, Donald Saff: Art in Collaboration, Munich, 2010, pp. 113-119 (other examples illustrated in color).
展覽
New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; Houston, The Menil Collection, Contemporary Arts Museum and The Museum of Fine Arts; Cologne, Museum Ludwig and Gugenheim Museum Bilbao, Robert Rauschenberg: A Retrospective, September 1997-February 1999, p. 308, no. 255 (another example illustrated in color).

拍品專文

Eco-Echo is a result of the combined technical expertise of Donald Saff and the artistic genius of Robert Rauschenberg. This partnership created works which stretched the boundaries of conception and medium, yet remained true to the artist's intent. "Saff was more than a host and a fabricator-he was a catalyst... the element of discovery was intrinsic to both partners in bringing the projects Saff initiated to fruition" (M. Kushner, Donald Saff: Art in Collaboration, Munich, 2010, p. 11).

In 1992, work began on the Eco-Echo series, when Saff suggested the concept of a windmill to his friend and collaborative partner Robert Rauschenberg. Having just returned from the United Nations Earth Summit on environment and development in Rio de Janeiro, environmental causes were paramount to Rauschenberg --The only way he would go ahead with the project, was if there was a way to make it environmentally friendly. With a base of raw materials such as industrial aluminum, and recycled lead weights on the central element, Saff suggested further enhancing the ecological relevance of the work by installing sonars on the base. These sonars enable the sculpture to only be actively rotating when viewers are in its vicinity. With collage-like elements reproduced on each blade in Rauschenberg's iconic style, Eco-Echo is not only a feat of engineering, but a tribute to the artist's ecological sensibilities.