October 1993. Gray granite, steel. Dimensions: 18 × 13 × 7 in (46 × 33 × 18 cm). Private collection - Washington, DC.
Clamp continues my interest in tools and implements as extensions of the hand and in what I have described as their “raw, efficient beauty of form dictated by function.” Here I use an actual C-clamp, celebrating both its distinctive circular shape and its practical purpose. Combined with rough granite and fabricated steel, the familiar tool becomes an integral part of the sculpture rather than simply a found object.
As in Kouros (1989) and Loop (1991), where I incorporated a real vise and C-clamp, the tool remains fully functional: its screw is tightened against the granite and actually helps hold the stone in place. Function and image become one—the act of clamping is made visible as part of the sculpture, bringing together my continuing concerns with tools, assembly, pressure, and the relationship between stone and steel.
The piece was later part of a multi-work trade with publisher James Trulove for the production of my first book, Bones of the Earth.
October 1993. Gray granite, steel. Dimensions: 18 × 13 × 7 in (46 × 33 × 18 cm). Private collection - Washington, DC.
Clamp continues my interest in tools and implements as extensions of the hand and in what I have described as their “raw, efficient beauty of form dictated by function.” Here I use an actual C-clamp, celebrating both its distinctive circular shape and its practical purpose. Combined with rough granite and fabricated steel, the familiar tool becomes an integral part of the sculpture rather than simply a found object.
As in Kouros (1989) and Loop (1991), where I incorporated a real vise and C-clamp, the tool remains fully functional: its screw is tightened against the granite and actually helps hold the stone in place. Function and image become one—the act of clamping is made visible as part of the sculpture, bringing together my continuing concerns with tools, assembly, pressure, and the relationship between stone and steel.
The piece was later part of a multi-work trade with publisher James Trulove for the production of my first book, Bones of the Earth.
