2009 › Nick Turvey

Undulatory Medium
2009. Acrylic and stainless steel. 100 x 100 x 6 cm.

Commission for St. Helens & Knowsley Teaching Hospital. 19th century scientists believed the waveform of light propagated through a resonant medium called the luminiferous aether, which filled the whole of space. Despite the theory falling out of favour, when aether proved undetectable, the idea remains a potent metaphor for rendering tangible the invisible. In this wall sculpture, an array of illusory volumes is created by the surrounding matrix, embodying many different dimensions of movement, oscillation, and rotation.
Undulatory Medium
2009. Acrylic and stainless steel. 100 x 100 x 6 cm.

Commission for St. Helens & Knowsley Teaching Hospital. 19th century scientists believed the waveform of light propagated through a resonant medium called the luminiferous aether, which filled the whole of space. Despite the theory falling out of favour, when aether proved undetectable, the idea remains a potent metaphor for rendering tangible the invisible. In this wall sculpture, an array of illusory volumes is created by the surrounding matrix, embodying many different dimensions of movement, oscillation, and rotation.
Surrogate
2009. Vinyl rubber. 51 x 24 x 24 cm.

The Incarnate series began with variations and elaborations of a basic undulatory form, much like musical variations on a theme. This base form is a proxy ( or idealised) human body, and the variations aim to catalogue possibilities for the human body considered as an object, both in terms of its constituent materials and their associated properties (an idea that relates to the medieval system of ‘Humours’), but also in the body’s role as a symbol or prop in fetish, myth and propaganda.
Surrogate
2009. Vinyl rubber. 51 x 24 x 24 cm.

The Incarnate series began with variations and elaborations of a basic undulatory form, much like musical variations on a theme. This base form is a proxy ( or idealised) human body, and the variations aim to catalogue possibilities for the human body considered as an object, both in terms of its constituent materials and their associated properties (an idea that relates to the medieval system of ‘Humours’), but also in the body’s role as a symbol or prop in fetish, myth and propaganda.
Nereid
2009. Plaster. 51 x 23 x 23 cm.
Nereid
2009. Plaster. 51 x 23 x 23 cm.
Nereid
2009. Plaster. 51 x 23 x 23 cm.
Massive Orange Object
2009. Polyurethane and stainless steel. 275 x 25 x 180 cm.

A giant lens creates an intense disruption of space, the object itself transformed into a phenomenon or force field, deconstructing and re-ordering perception.

Commissioned by Lambeth Arts and Mount Anvil. Permanently installed outside the old South Bank University in London. The address is 345 Wandsworth Road, London SW8, next to the junction with Lansdowne Way.
Massive Orange Object
2009. Polyurethane and stainless steel. 275 x 25 x 180 cm.

A giant lens creates an intense disruption of space, the object itself transformed into a phenomenon or force field, deconstructing and re-ordering perception.

Commissioned by Lambeth Arts and Mount Anvil. Permanently installed outside the old South Bank University in London. The address is 345 Wandsworth Road, London SW8, next to the junction with Lansdowne Way.
Massive Orange Object
2009. Polyurethane and stainless steel. 275 x 25 x 180 cm.

Commission for Mount Anvil, London. A giant lens creates an intense disruption of space, the object itself transformed into a phenomenon or force field, deconstructing and re-ordering perception.
Massive Orange Object
2009. Polyurethane and stainless steel. 275 x 25 x 180 cm.

A giant lens creates an intense disruption of space, the object itself transformed into a phenomenon or force field, deconstructing and re-ordering perception.

Commissioned by Lambeth Arts and Mount Anvil. Permanently installed outside the old South Bank University in London. The address is 345 Wandsworth Road, London SW8, next to the junction with Lansdowne Way.
Posy
2009. Stainless steel & lacquer. 320 (w) x 320 (d) x 320 cm (h)

Project for Spitalfields. Flowers are not only a reminder of the mathematics that lurks beneath appearances, but have also always been potent symbols. The title invites the viewer to use that language of flowers to unpick the history of this place.
Genius Loci
2009. Seaweed. 400 x 130 x 40 cm.
Eidola
2009. Polyurethane and stainless steel. 600 x 400 x 120 cm.

Sculpture commission for City Offices, London. A shimmering cloud of watery ripples is created from fifty custom-made, giant, fresnel lenses, which multiply and magnify the view of the street, transforming it into a piece of kaleidoscopic cinema.
Eidola
2009. Polyurethane and stainless steel. 600 x 400 x 120 cm.

Sculpture commission for City Offices, London. A shimmering cloud of watery ripples is created from fifty custom-made, giant, fresnel lenses, which multiply and magnify the view of the street, transforming it into a piece of kaleidoscopic cinema.
Eidola
2009. Polyurethane and stainless steel. 600 x 400 x 120 cm.
Sculpture commission for City Offices, London. A shimmering cloud of watery ripples is created from fifty custom-made, giant, fresnel lenses, which multiply and magnify the view of the street, transforming it into a piece of kaleidoscopic cinema.
Curved Glass
Solo exhibition

Museum of the History of Science

17th March – 17th May 2009

Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3AZ.
Tuesday – Friday 12.00 – 17.00 hrs.
Saturday & Sunday 10.00 – 17.00 hrs.

Image: Nothing Comes Into Being (detail)