Loop Love!
I was invited to collaborate by Yvon Benenfant, Director, Future Humanities Dep. UCC, Jeff Wheater, Head of Music Dep. UCC, and Yvonne Coughlan, Director/Producer RSVP, to create a sculptural, interactive voice-activated sound work. This is an exciting new direction for my work, overtly exploring performativity in the viewer who in my view ultimately completes the work.
Researching and developing this idea in consultation with Julie O’Leary, Creative Learning Director with Graffiti Theatre in phase 1, where we tested playback loops with adult audiences with mild to moderate learning disabilities at Cope Foundation, Cork, phase 2 received Arts Council funding in 2023. Yvon’s research specializes in empowering ‘othered voices’ through art, and our collective aim for this project was to create a touring artwork that would bring a contemporary, fine-art aesthetic experience to all who encounter the work, be they from mixed ages, and genders, cultures, and/or neuro-diverse groups. There are 4 microphones, each with an illuminated control button to edit and add to each playback loop. These play from 5 speakers resonating through the acoustic work, designed by working closely with Jeff, who designed the hardware and software control system hidden inside the work.
The form of the work is inspired by a fusion of Russian Constructivist artist Naum Gabo’s ‘Stereo-metric constructions’ that describe space instead of mass, 1950s style hi-fidelity furniture, and the sound art of Alvin Lucier (1931-2021). Based on the geometry of a cube with a continuous edge that follows a three-quarter turn onto the next surface, the work is made from birch ply with some extremely complex compound-mitered surfaces to lock together perfectly. The following studio images, taken at the National Sculpture Factory, Cork, show the work being constructed.
I am told Loop Love is being very well received by audiences of all ages and it will be on show in Cork Opera House for a period in 2024. The thought of this work having a life of its own as it is given new interpretations and meanings by new audiences is very heart-warming!
Carnivore: Dance performance in collaboration with Luke Murphy & Attic Projects:
The following images are of a series of origami inspired paper works the I made in collaboration with Choreographer Luke Murphy, who invited me to be part of the project. It was exciting to see these works so sensitively animated by Luke and his amazingly talented team!
A still from the inaugural performance of Carnivore at Uillin: West cork Arts centre.
The large paper dome became the spiritual home for the performers during each performance so I called it Duomo, the Italian for church. This dome also unfolded to become a tunnel and was folded from 45 square meters of paper. After the final performance in the Centre for Contemporary Irish Art, Los Angeles, I am told it now lives somewhere in New York.
Recent Works: Kilkenny Arts Festival:
This is a sample of some new work in paper that I exhibited at Rudolf Heltzel Design during Kilkenny Arts Festival, Ireland, 2014. The following images show a work in progress… This piece is a stellated dodecahedron developed from a star fold I created for an earlier large scale paper installation. Using the basic geometry of a 12 sided solid I was able make the spherical form after I had worked out the development. Though not strictly origami as it uses tabs and glue, I wanted the work to be folded from a single sheet of paper. Compared to final assembly, working out this development was half the fun! (Or should I say work)?
The completed piece… more to follow. I have been a big fan of Heltzel’s fine jewelry for a number of years, and I visit his studio whenever I am in Kilkenny. When a conversation with Rudolf’s son Christopher ended in my being invited to exhibit some new work, I wanted to respond to the precision of his fine work in the medium of paper on an intimate scale…
Stellated Icosahedron. Folded from a single sheet, working out the crease pattern for this was very satisfying! I have also included this crease pattern for printing on A4 paper below, which is my first ever origami / paper sculpture diagram.
Instructions: Crease all diagonal mountain folds and also the horizontal and vertical valley folds (including gluing tabs). Create the 20 three-sided pyramids first by gluing along the folded edge. Then glue each tab behind the nearest edge to create the shape. (I use super glue precision gel which does not stain the paper).
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Alex Pentek. Unfurl. Bronze. 2014. (Image Fred Graepel)
This idea for Ashton School, Cork, Ireland is my site specific response to the location within the new school and the relationship between the new and old school buildings. As I aimed to link the subjects of art, maths and science, the image of a leaf or flower came from my discovery that the original old building was once a leaf covered Georgian family home that had large green houses and planting on 20 acres of grounds.
The above shows some shots of work in progress at the National Sculpture Factory Cork, Ireland, September 2013. Many thanks to Graepel Perforations and Weaving Co. LTD, Kinsale, who perforated the bronze patterns, and took some images of the finished work. A short animated walk through of this work can be viewed on the the following link: https://vimeo.com/73732474 _________________________________________________________
Alex Pentek. Hidden Landscape. Corten steel. 2013.
This idea was selected for Longford City By-Pass, Ireland, and represents the upper portion of a giant 20m long violin or fiddle as if it has been partly unearthed by the newly cut away embankment.
(Image Longford Leader)
Alex Pentek. Hidden Landscape 2014. (Image Sean O’Dowd)
Using a bold, simple yet elegant visual language this idea aims to communicate Longford’s rich musical heritage as both an expression and a part of the surrounding landscape to passing motorists. This alludes to the lost rural tradition of roadside Ceili and gatherings at crossroads and platforms across Ireland before the present era of motorways. A short animation of this idea can be seen on the following link: https://vimeo.com/75688444 _________________________________________________________
Alex Pentek. Bulrushes. Stainless steel / LED lighting / stone amphitheater. 2013.
Bulrushes is a piece I made in 2013 for Glenamaddy Community School, Co. Galway, Ireland. The idea was inspired by the surrounding bog land which I discovered is recognised both nationally and internationally as an important untouched wetland environment. The theme of water is also reflected by the circular grass and stone amphitheatre and landscaping which is also a part of my design The work is made from brushed finish stainless steel with a series of low wattage LED lighting elements to give a subtle glow at night. There is also a carved stone element at the school entrance. These images are of the work in progress and also during installation… Special Thanks to Raymond Riley, whose help and expertise made this project possible.
Work in progress at the National Sculpture Factory, Cork…
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The following images show the construction of Rabbit (inspired by the origami rabbit created by David Shall) at the National Sculpture Factory, Cork, Ireland. This was made from plasma cut 6mm corten weathering steel and MIG welded with continuous welds.
Moving the four and a half ton Rabbit at the National Sculpture Factory with Factory Floor Manager Donal Dillworth.
Rabbit finally in place overlooking the N2 at Ashbourne, Co. Meath, Ireland. (Image Leanne Keaney). _________________________________________________________
This piece, titled Gravity is a development from an original star fold pattern I created for a paper installation I exhibited in 2011. By using a mixture of computer modelling and origami test pieces I was able to make the fold pattern into a sphere based on the geometry of a dodecahedron. This was then cast from the paper original during IRON-R cast iron workshop at the National Sculpture Factory in 2012, led by artist and CIT Crawford College of Art & Design lecturer James Hayes. The piece now weighs 100 lbs and stands 36 cm tall.
…The work being cast by the Iron-R team in the Sculpture Factory yard using a sand mold with wooden casing around the paper original, which you can see being burned out during the pouring. The specially made furnace nicknamed ‘The Bull’ reached 3000 degrees Celsius which gave off U.V. light from the viewing holes!