public sculpture

On the way to the office yesterday, I stopped by the Cummer to check out the new sculpture, The Sea of the Ear Rings, a kinetic sculpture. Installed on the front lawn of the museum, the bright red, minimal piece is in complete opposition to the conservative façade. In this opposition, it recalls the open-air sculpture parks of Britain often housed on private land (like Henry Moore’s).

The kinetic aspect of the sculpture comes in to play at the nexus of the two rings: the upper ring slowly raises and lowers in almost barely noticeable increments. The slowed motion is at once hallucinatory and soothing; and, accomplished through the slow redistribution of a 1,000 pound weight.

Created by artist Takashi Soga, the sculpture was a gift to the Cummer by Dudley D. Johnson in memory of his son Dudley D. Johnson, Jr. Little information was available online about Dudley Johson (Jr or Sr), save that Sr gives fairly generously to NYC charities.