ARTISTIC VISIONS
For “Artistic Visions,” Indian River magazine asks the artists profiled
“PREVAILING WINDS”, 2007
Concrete, aluminum, stainless steel
14 feet high, 3,000 pounds
“This is a sculpture that I rely on nature to make work. I did incorporate the
spheres in the sculpture but in this piece they are more representational of the
sun and moon instead of the earth. That is evident, I hope, when you see the
rays coming down from the spheres. I truly enjoy sitting and watching the
sculpture move as the wind blows and changes directions. I am not a sailor,
however, I did help sail a small sailboat to the Keys years ago with a friend
who claimed to be. After the second day I realized that not only I wasn’t a
sailor but neither was he. But I think sitting back and watching my sculpture
being manipulated and directed by the wind must be the same satisfaction
real sailors gets when their sails are full and they’re sitting back and letting
nature make it work.”
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to select representative examples of their work and to talk
about them. Here, Pat Cochran describes a few of his pieces:
“The Partnership”, 2003 (with Ginny Street)
Concrete, corten, stainless steel
8 by 3 feet, 8,000 pound
“This piece depicts man embracing the environment. The indigenous shells in
the 8,000-pound concrete base represent the sedimentary layers of Florida.
The powder-coated stainless steel rods, like seagrass imbedded in stainless
steel waves, sway in the wind and intermittently make contact, using nature
as the energy source. We made the rods detachable so they could be taken
out for hurricanes, and that sure paid off the following year. We installed a
plaque that describes all the elements of the sculpture and what they stand
for, and hope people go to see the sculpture, read the plaque and walk away
with a feeling that we had accomplished our goal.”