Alice Aycock (American, b.1946)
Alien Twister, 2018
Powder-coated aluminum and stainless steel 84 x 74 ¾ in.; plinth: 6 x 48.1 x 48.1 in.
Alice Aycock visualizes energy, both mental and kinetic, capturing speed and velocity in Alien Twister. Using computer graphics to manipulate images of industrial turbines, cyclones, and whirlpools, Aycock creates dynamic forms that mimic the movement of machine parts, DNA helixes, galaxy formations, and other manmade and natural phenomena.
Aycock began her career in the early 1970s as a land artist designing works that incorporated subterranean tunnels, walls, doors, and ladders into the landscape. She was influenced by her lifelong interest in architecture and archaeological spaces, as well as by Minimalist artists Tony Smith and Robert Morris.
In 2014, Aycock was commissioned to install a series of seven monumental sculptures along New York City’s Park Avenue, from 52nd Street to 66th Street. In Park Avenue Paper Chase, “I tried to visualize the movement of wind energy as it flowed up and down the Avenue creating random whirlpools, touching down here and there and sometimes forming dynamic three-dimensional massing of forms,” said Aycock. “I see that part of Park Avenue as a real cauldron of activity—of intense intellectual activity, competitive activity.”
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