Ancient Calm: Norman Warsinske’s Wall Relief

Post By: Austin Colwell, Sterling Greer and Ethan Liggett

About The Artist and Piece

The artist’s primary intent was to create a piece that would ward off villainous spirits from the building and make the otherwise bland corner of the WWU Humanities building stand out a bit more. Warsinske is very much interested in designs and forms that offer protection, among which are hex symbols. During the creation of Wall Relief, he was greatly influenced by traditional African hex symbols, which were created solely to ward off malignant evils. Yet, to oppose this primarily negative and defensive purpose, Warsinske classifies his structure as a “growth form”. Opposing the more traditional nature of hex signs (flat, painted glyphs) by structuring it out of bronze, which gave another dimension to play with. By breaking the structure at certain nodes and cresting the top of the spiral, he established a flowing organic nature to the piece. This more positive spin complements the academic environment that it resides in, as well as adds a more natural design to an otherwise cold and industrial building.

Norman Warsinkse was raised far from this installment. Born in Wichita, Kansas in 1929, he got a BA in Journalism at the University of Montana then a BA of Fine Art at the University of Washington. He was a craftsman, novice painter and an interior designer, but he became known for his metalworking skills. He started by creating lanterns and various sculptural structures for households, patios as well as public buildings. Eventually he moved on to creating wall reliefs in the 60s and 70s, which brought his work to the Western Washington University campus. His other works are featured at the IBM building and the campus Unitarian Church. But the most intriguing is his Wall Relief on the Humanities building. Not many sources documenting this structure exist, so many interpretations come from those at WWU.

During the period of time this piece of art was created a variety of major events were taking place which could have influenced this piece. In 1962 the year The Wall of Relief was created Seattle happened to be hosting the world’s fair. In the early 60’s was the beginning of hippie subculture where people made a bunch of funky decisions but the basis of the movement was towards peace and to end war. People in America were in fear since in the time period the Cold War was taking place and our relationship with the Soviet Union was at an all-time low. The Soviet Union had just moved nuclear weapons to Cuba and Americans felt vulnerable and unsafe. All of the emotion during this time frame is reflected in the piece of artwork.

The relationships behind the Wall of Relief and the events taking place around the time it was created are very visible. The piece simulates a hex sign, traditionally used in Africa and pieces to ward off evil, which Warsinske sees as forms of growth. America was also facing Cuban Missile Crisis which would bring the world to brink of war. In this case, the thought of nuclear warfare and the leniency toward peace over violence makes a lot of sense for him wanting to keep everyone safe. With everyone preaching about peace and love it’s no wonder The Beatles became the phenomenon we all know of today. Also, the pieces ripples and sphere make it look more “earthy” and symbolizes growth. Growth was a big topic in this period with nearly half the population under 18. The spherical shape resembles the rings of a tree and contribute to the peace giving off a natural comforting look.

Reaction Pieces

This collage was assembled with everyday items and images that resemble the emotions and meaning of the piece ‘Wall Relief’ by Norman Warsinske. While taking an array of pictures to evoke the same sense of feeling as Warsinske the plant, candle and beatles poster stood out. The lit candle inside of another candle image resembles the hex- sign used by Warsinske visually and candles bring warmth and comfort just like he wanted to portray during the chaotic time period the artwork was created. The Beatles image fits right into the time frame of Warsinske created the piece as well. Although they did not create physical art their songs inspired people to get through the times and evoke positive energy. The plant represents the growth aspect of the ‘Wall Relief’ and a succulent was chosen to represent the durability like the bronze in the piece and the people’s spirits who endured the a widespread emotional patch of years. (Ethan Liggett)

To me the Wall Relief was a sign of life and represented something bigger than what you think when you see it. The sculpture was made in the 1960s during a hard time in the world’s history. Warsinske said how the piece simulates a hex sign with were used to kill negative energy, which she sees as forms of growth. This growth and the obvious flower shape is why I think the piece resembles a growing rose just her outlook on the growth and positivity of the world. (Sterling Greer)

https://soundcloud.com/austin-colwell-145674494

To represent the formal nature of the sculpture, I created a piece of ambient music to accompany the visual of the sculpture itself. The main thought process behind engineering the sound was creating a sense of serenity, as hex circles are meant to ward off evil spirits and negative energy. I chose to create a chord progression that has some notes that lie in the 9-13hz range, the reason being that note in this range mimic alpha waves in the brain. Listening to alpha waves can incite a feeling of relaxation and meditation, which further push the positive message of the piece. The brushy, wind-like sounds at the beginning are actually the sounds of water droplets that are heavily adjusted on the computer. I used this type of sound simply because the sculpture itself looks like a ripple from a water droplet. As well, all of the percussive elements were created using the sculpture itself. I recorded myself tapping on the structure with my AT2020 condenser microphone, and I collected a range of sounds that would make up the different parts of a virtual drumkit (consisting of hi-hats, a snare and kick drums). The end of the piece trails off into only random percussion and the chord progression, which imitates the broken nodes at various parts of the sculpture. (Austin Colwell)

Bibliography:

https://wp.wwu.edu/wwuart109/2017/03/01/wall-relief-norman-warsinske-3/

https://wp.wwu.edu/wallrelief/2016/10/12/reactions/

http://www.askart.com/artist/Norman_George_Jr_Warsinske/10056886/Norman_George_Jr_Warsinske.aspx