Beetle Sphere
Ichwan Noor
2013
- Medium:Aluminum, polyester, auto paint, and parts from a 1953 VW Beetle
- Year:2013
- Size:180 x 180 x 180 cm
Description
Born in Indonesia, Ichwan Noor is regarded as one of most proficient Indonesian artists in creating larger-than-life 3-dimensional sculptures. He is renowned for his large-scale sculptures of hybrid human, animal and technological forms made predominantly with bronze, aluminum, and resin. These technological objects make Noor ‘The Maker’ amongst his contemporaries.
Beetle Sphere is the most representative artwork of Noor. It is part of series work of reconstruction of the 1953 VW Beetle car with its new rounded appearance. To achieve the perfect spherical form, Ichwan Noor combines part of the actual 1953 VW Beetle with polyester and aluminum replica of the vehicle. Beetle Sphere showcases Ichwan Noor’s precision and excellent technique in working with large-scale sculpture. This artwork offering a brand-new intriguing concept to the object, shifting our perception that creates associative meaning to an object to seek for another meaning, opening new possibilities of interpretation.
Beetle Sphere emphasizes the artist’s consistent discovery of technology, marking the naturally emerged “transport culture” towards objects. As Noor explains, “The idea emerged from a personal perception towards objects that are products of a ‘transport culture’, which induces hint or signs of spiritual emotion. To behold a vehicle (car) is to have a ‘magical’ (supernatural) identity. Sculpture represents the interaction between humans and the object realm, with strong spiritual tension that affects the subconscious, and that yields a new ‘animistic’ attitude. ”