Mechanical components: the seen but unseen

Abstract

The unconventional theme of functional mechanical components within a limited environment has been an integral part of the art world for decades. Artists have illustrated this theme using a variety of methods and media. Technological advancements in the early part of the twentieth century changed the landscape of America; from an agrarian to an industrial society, prompting a celebration of the architectural and industrial wonders found in American cities. Artists portrayed the taming of nature and celebrated “modern life.” During the 1920s and 1930s, the Precisionist artists captured imagery of a new, manmade, industrial landscape, deserting classic landscape painting. They developed a style that combined abstraction with the abstract expressionism of geometric shapes adapted from Cubism. The Precisionists glorified industrial factories and the components that were manufactured within them. This led me to contemplate whether I too could create artworks that glorified plumbing, heating, venting, and air conditioning (HVAC) fixtures. There have been a number of influential artists that did not objectify mechanical components or industrial imagery per se, but greatly influenced my artistic journey. Henri Matisse’s colourful geometric paintings portrayed a linear element and his work later influenced Richard Diebenkorn’s abstractions. Jasper Johns highlighted the visual worth of mundane objects making me realize that a grouping of works portraying mechanical components could convey their own importance. If Marcel Duchamp could promote a readymade urinal as art, divorcing its form from its function, I could do the same with pipe valves. What compelled these artists to select the theme of linear lines creating masses of geometric shapes, industrial landscapes, elevating common objects to an artistic level has been the focus of my research, and their have guided me in my portrayal of mechanical components. In my practice, I elevate mundane mechanical components such as pipes, valves, gas regulators, and back flow regulators for sprinkler systems, making the viewer see what is, on a conscious level at least, generally unseen.