On view

British, b. 1938
Sea Change, 1996
Stainless steel
20 ft. 5 in. x 11 in. x 13 ft. 9 in. (622.3 x 27.9 x 419.1 cm)
Gift of the Ralph E. Ogden Foundation, the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, and the Margaret T. Morris Foundation
Photo by Jerry L. Thompson
Sea Change is composed of two identical stainless steel poles, slender and curving, that turn slowly in opposite directions. The poles are anchored to motorized disks, sunk below the ground and encased in a waterproof steel box secured to a thick concrete pad. The synchronized rotations produce fluid, undulating movements as the poles seem to sway and flex, blending the mechanical with the natural. Projecting a sense of ambiguity, the poles appear at times to rotate in opposite directions and, at others, in the same direction. As the sculpture moves and as one’s vantage point changes, the relationship between the two forms similarly transforms as they weave together and come apart, the space between them shifting in kind. An experienced deep-sea diver, George Cutts has noted that he intended this lyrical kinetic sculpture to evoke seaweed moving with the flow of ocean waves and currents.