SCULPTURES are normally stationary objects.
But not when it comes to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.
They’ve just launched a collection which walks, climbs and swims.
The ‘Divisions’ collection by award-winning artist James Capper is on display, at Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP), near West Bretton, until April 14.
The exhibition features three large walking models outdoors and other models, drawings and films indoors.
Capper himself will be present on January 13, 20, and 27 and February 3 to demonstrate to visitors how his machines work.
The machines, inspired by early innovations in engineering, include ‘Midi Marker’ (2012), a yellow machine with claw-like feet which imprints on the landscape.
There is also the gigantic, forklift-like engine ‘Exstenda Claw’ (2012) and ‘Tread Toe’ (2010), a large-scale moving sculpture, self-powered by a hydraulic foot which moves forward in a slow stepping motion.
London-born Capper won both the Royal British Society of Sculpture Bursary Award and the Royal Academy Jack Goldhill Award for Sculpture in 2009.
Speaking about one of his main influences, inventor Robert Gilmour Le Tourneau, Capper said: “I feel that it is very important to bring new ideas to art, rather than re-treading familiar paths and recycling old techniques.
“Le Tourneau is as important to me as any great artist that has broken down barriers.
“The operation of a machine becomes a performance, and the building of the machine is a demonstration of what mechanical engineering can achieve in sculpture.”
