Bob Pavlik
Minus Objects 1.1 / 1.2
2024
This environmentally responsive work is composed of two objects standing beside each other. Each has a series of very thin, black strands that stand vertically. In completely still air, the pair read as outlines of solid objects. In even the lightest breeze, they gently sway, so that they have no fixed shape. In heavier wind, the vertical strands strike against each other, with an audible clatter.
From a distance, they dematerialize and melt into their surroundings, becoming barely ghosted outlines of forms. They appear as blurs in the landscape, apparitions. They are a reduction of solid forms to minimal, and simultaneously maximal, arrangements of material in space.
The sculpture is made of high strength carbon fiber, a common boatbuilding material, and each object weighs less than a pound. Their base surfaces have grids of bumps, that increase in height toward their centers. The thin black vertical lines were made by stringing resin-soaked carbon fiber yarn between the peaks of the bumps on the base and temporary anchor points above it, in continuous, unbroken lengths.
About the Artist
Bob Pavlik is an artist, architect, and professor based in northwest Connecticut and western Massachusetts. He holds a degree in architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He currently teaches at the Rhode Island School of Design and Roger Williams University. He also has held positions at Northeastern University, The University of Oklahoma, and The University of Texas.
His work focuses on novel experiments with materials and methods of making. It has a strong emphasis on physical structure, often highlighting unique connections and joinery. It blends advanced computational design methods and computer-controlled fabrication equipment with analog hand-craft techniques.
Website: https://bobpavlik.com/
Instagram: @bob.pavlik