Sculture: Normanno Wedge (1980)
Artist: Beverly Pepper
Group Members: Eythan Frost, Alex Barber, and Justin Edwards
Artist Statement:
We created this video to inform viewers about the history and background of the Normanno Wedge. Our video showcases how this sculpture can be observed from many different angles. By looking at this sculpture from different angles, viewers can completely change their perspective on this piece and draw new interpretations from the art.
The animation was included because we wanted to illustrate one of the themes our group took away from viewing this sculpture. We felt that the Normanno Wedge represents the complex relationship between the natural world and the industrial world. Our animation represents how nature is often dominated by industrial development.
Overall, it was our goal to create a video that helped educate viewers on the background of Beverly Pepper and the Normanno Wedge. We hope that our audience is able to look at the sculpture with a fresh perspective and see something they never saw before.
Description:
Beverly Pepper has had a life full of adventure during her career as an artist. She has seen and contributed to various art movements over the past 94 years since she was born. Over time, her artistic capabilities developed into something new, something that very few people have experienced before. In the 1950’s a lot of her work was constructed out of different exotic woods. However, while living in Italy she began to start working with different types of metals, and in 1962 got a job at a metal factory in Piombino, Italy. This is where she, “got her taste for factories” and decided, “Other women want diamonds and fur coats. I just want to live in a factory.” So she pressed on, learning the ways of an ironmonger, and living out in the countryside. Living in the countryside made her truly appreciate the beauty of nature, so in 1972 she began her “Earthbound Sculptures” series. These were often large sculptures that bridged two worlds, one natural and one manmade. She would first make these prototypes out of wood and then have them cast into iron; one of the most common elements on earth, yet rarely used in art. This was a key time in her life, she gained notoriety and her pieces were placed in well-known locations all over the globe. Her sculptures were often designed and constructed to be placed in specific areas, like our prized Normanno Wedge placed outside of Artzen Hall in 1980. Below is a short video showcasing the Normanno Wedge and our interpretation of what this sculpture represents.
Additional Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=yvspgtZhbLY–Beverly Pepper Cast Iron 2012 for the Nor’easter conference
Credits:
Justin Edwards: Research and Blog Post
Eythan Frost: Film and Editing
Alex Barber: Writing and Production
Bibliography:
WWW.SPANIERMAN.COM, S.
BEVERLY PEPPER – Artist Biography
(www.spanierman.com, 2017)
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INFORMATION | BEVERLY PEPPER
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The Most Iconic Artists of the 1970s
(Baumgardner, 2017)
Baumgardner, J. (2017). The Most Iconic Artists of the 1970s. [online] Artsy. Available at: https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-the-most-iconic-artists-of-the-1970s [Accessed 25 Oct. 2017].
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