Wit’s End, a work commissioned for Storm King, evokes organic shapes yet feels at the same time somewhat mechanistic, owing in part to its construction from cast aluminum. Its form melds John Newman’s interests in exoskeletons and topology—that is, the study of objects that can be stretched into other shapes without changing their essential nature. Newman’s interests extend to medieval European armor and Japanese samurai helmets, and he integrates them into his sculpture in unexpected ways. As he has described, “I want to expand the spectrum of sculpture’s vocabulary . . . to make something I’ve never seen before. I realize that there is a certain level of grandiosity in this statement, because there’s nothing new under the sun. But as a goal, as a method for working, it is something I like thinking about.”