For Spacious Skies -2001

1.2: "For Spacious Skies" 2001. Acrylic on Blackout Cloth. c. 10'x10'x25'. The prototype for "For Spacious Skies" is "Summer Helices" 1974, now in the collection of the "Sens" art group, Kiev. A blue and yellow inflatable, its location is partly because of the color. The Ukrainians, whose national colors are blue and yellow, like the piece, whereas in Ohio it is often regarded as a subversive Michigan cheer. In reality the colors of the early Helices were dependent upon whatever was available at hard to find sources for commercial offcuts. 3. 4: "For Spacious Skies" 2001 in Riffe Office Tower, State of Ohio. July 2002. The form derived, not from matched spirals but from a series of spaced, reversed half circles, was one I particularly liked. Already into decoration of the surface and attracted to the bold statement inherent in flag design, on leaving Kiev in 1992, I determined to reconstruct this form, painting it with stars and stripes. 5. 7: "For Spacious Skies" 2001. As a flag at the Carnegie Center for Visual Arts, Covington, KY. 6. 8. : "For Spacious Skies" in and out of the studio during construction. Procrastination lasted through 1999, (the year we became U.S. citizens,) until September 11, 2001. That day, having completed two days work at Tallix foundry in Beacon, N.Y., we were driving south toward New York city when we noted a plane overhead make a strange turn. Minutes later hearing radio reports of the commencement of the horrible events of that day we prudently decided to abandon our visit to the Lower Manhatten galleries instead turning north and west. Driving west through Pennsylvania and Ohio, struck by the way in which the national flag was immediate evidence of national solidarity, I decided that now was the time to do this piece. It was shown for the first time over the July 4th holiday period in the office towers of the State of Ohio. The plan is to place it in similar locations every July 4. 9 . Painting the stars.