Public Artwork
Rumination on a Set of Circumstances
Location:
University of Lethbridge Sculpture Park, 4401 University Drive, Lethbridge, AB, T1K 3M4, Canada
See map: Google Maps
Artwork creator(s):
McWilliams, Al
Text author(s):
McWilliams, Al
Installation year:
1991 Description:
An abstract sculpture composed of a steel chair sitting underneath three tilting rings that are supported by four poles. Propane burners shoot flames out from underneath the legs of the chair. Rumination on a Set of Circumstances employs the Braille alphabet.
Text of the artwork:
Braille element
History:
Purchased by the University of Lethbridge in 1987, it was created in 1983 and permanently installed in 1991 as the featured new work at the dedication of the U of L sculpture park. Dimensions:
Height:
5.1m
Width:
4m
Depth:
4 m Note(s):
CCPERB Essay
University of Lethbridge 1991
"Al McWilliams Rumination on a Set of Circumstances is one of the most reproduced, internationally exhibited works of contemporary Canadian sculpture. Purchased by the University of Lethbridge in 1987, it will be permanently installed this September as the featured new work at the dedication of the U of L sculpture park. McWilliams has been a visiting artist at the U of L and the Southern Alberta Art Gallery recently hosted a solo exhibition of his work and published a catalogue on the occasion.
McWilliams was included in the exhibition West Coast Stories organized by the U of L and circulated throughout Alberta. His work forms an important component in our programme to inform our publics concerning contemporary sculpture. Rumination on a Set of Circumstances is of course an outdoor piece (now permanently sited). It is with this in mind that we are delighted to add McWilliams Untitled (...and the Woman). This work is intended for display indoors; comparatively manageable in scale, it can be incorporated in changing exhibition programmes and temporary exhibitions.
Untitled (...and the Woman) is the final work in which McWilliams utilized the chair image (also central to Rumination on a Set of Circumstances), and the first in which he employed the Braille element. It is also the work which introduced the references to Genesis, specifically to Adam and Eve and the Fall from Paradise, which has been a major preoccupation of his work since that point. The formal devices and material at use: copper, plate glass, Braille photo panels all exemplify what McWilliams’ work continues to be about. It will make for extraordinary comparison to the University’s superb collection of Canadian sculpture. McWilliams is represented in the monographs, Visions, and Vancouver Art and Artists, by our work Rumination on a Set of Circumstances. The new work, Untitled (...and the Woman) was exhibited at the Cold City Gallery in 1987 where is was reviewed by Ian Carr-Harris."
C Magazine, Winter 87/88 p72-73, and by Tom Gotlieb in Art Post, Winter 87/88. It has been reproduced in a later C Magazine new work supplement and the Capilano Review series 2:1, Fall 1989.
Artist's biography:
Al McWilliams
Owner(s):
University of Lethbridge Document(s):
Syndicate
