Blubber
Artist: Mark di Suvero (American, born 1933)
Date: 1979-1980
Dimensions:
H: 35 ft. (1066.8 cm); W: 25 ft. (762 cm); Depth: 60 ft. (1828.8 cm)
Medium: Painted steel and rubber.
Classification: Sculpture
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number: 1984.76
Label Text:While George Rickey’s Triple N Gyratory III relies on the wind to interact with its moveable elements, Mark di Suvero’s Blubber relies on you! A split tractor tire suspended from the structure of nine painted steel I-beams creates the ultimate tire swing. Early in his career, di Suvero decided to make art that encouraged human interaction. His social consciousness has taken a number of forms, from holding exhibitions in economically depressed neighborhoods to designing urban playgrounds.
His years spent working in a California shipyard gave him an understanding of structural balances of force—thrust and counter-thrust—which he uses in his sculpture. Permanently injured in a construction site accident in 1960, di Suvero nevertheless has taken a very hands-on approach to constructing his monumental sculptures. He has called the crane, used to place the I-beams, his “paintbrush.”
You may swing on the tire, but please do not climb on any other part of the sculpture. Children under 12 must be supervised by an adult.
His years spent working in a California shipyard gave him an understanding of structural balances of force—thrust and counter-thrust—which he uses in his sculpture. Permanently injured in a construction site accident in 1960, di Suvero nevertheless has taken a very hands-on approach to constructing his monumental sculptures. He has called the crane, used to place the I-beams, his “paintbrush.”
You may swing on the tire, but please do not climb on any other part of the sculpture. Children under 12 must be supervised by an adult.
On view
In Collection(s)