Recent Collaborative Sculpture
 "Garden Eels" Aluminum, stainless steel, concrete, and fused glass. |
| A collaborative piece between the sculptor Petra Kaiser and Tiité.
This sculpture is a kind of monument to conservation in the 21st
century as well as evidence of the powerful new cultural role that binary media
can play to deliver the substance and the spirit of conservation to the public. Garden eels are very remarkable creatures that live on the ocean floor sometimes as deep as 1000 feet or more. Garden eels take their peculiar name from their preference to not leave their burrows and to resemble a field of grass when seen from a distance. Garden Eels the sculpture, captures that rare sight which is not widely known as these creatures are shy and our understanding about them so limited. Many people will see the work and think about golf clubs, hockey sticks or even candy canes; the reality is that these wonderful garden eels could disappear before we even get to know them. The sculpture confronts the viewer with the elegant posture of the eels amidst a vibrant display of color broadcasted by the fused glass elements. At the same time, the color scheme reveals the profound narrative of these creatures tenure in life across the ages. From ancient times long before the appearance of mankind, a time when the waters were crystal clear and nature held dominium (blue eel) to their present state of affairs with the threat of increased pollution and other manmade changes to the ecology of the sea (yellow eel) to their silent perhaps inexorable requiem (purple eel) if we allow these dwellers of the ocean to join the list of extinct species. Art in the 21st century is reintroducing an element of utility that was present in the cultures of ancient civilizations at the dawn of humankind to the role of art in contemporary civilization. This work is a clear example of ground breaking art exercising such role. |
 Detail |
| The chromatic properties of the glass employed react to light of various intensities and sources in such a way as to create an ever changing visual experience. |
 Unveiling of "Garden Eels" February 3, 2007 |
| The unveiling of this work also unveiled the new and intriguing concept of
the "culturet" as an added dimension to the art event. Tiité provided the
fundamental idea and the name, Petra Kaiser and Tiité refined the context of the
first culturet , Brent Scheneman provided refinements to the word and Wolfgang
Kaiser made it possible. Culturet, the word is therefore new and it is used to describe an event with a new level of interaction between the art, the artist, the viewer, the event’s environment and the cultural residuals of the culturet. Simply stated, a culturet works as an extension of the “salon” or the “happening” in the sense that the event generates a collective experience that defines culturally the art, the ideas being presented, the participation of the viewer and their take home experience. Images on this page by: © Brent Scheneman 2007 |