Creative Tension

Art’s been looking for symmetry forever — loving it, cuddling it, approaching it, bowing before it wherever it was located. Then came the 1600s and science, and suddenly art had to share. What could be more symmetrical, more perfect a celebration of the laws of the cosmos, than Isaac Newton’s...

By Brandon K. Thorp

September 18, 2008

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Art’s been looking for symmetry forever — loving it, cuddling it, approaching it, bowing before it wherever it was located. Then came the 1600s and science, and suddenly art had to share. What could be more symmetrical, more perfect a celebration of the laws of the cosmos, than Isaac Newton’s apprehension of bodies in motion? And so, ever since, science and art have been getting together and trying to make babies. One of those babies was M.C. Escher. Another one was Carl Sagan. And maybe, another one might be Robin Griffiths.

Griffiths is a science nut, mathematician, electrician, teacher, and sculptor, and his work is on view at The Dorsch Gallery (151 NW 24th St., Miami) through October 4. That work consists of big, sensuous, mostly wooden sculptures that you want to snuggle up to — they’re very tactilely involving. But they’re more than that: Coded into many, you can find hands-on explications of profound physical principles. Take the exhibit’s namesake piece, “A Mechanical Advantage”: Here, overlapping, stressed wires exert forces on each other so that a little tug from an art lover can exert tremendous pressure on big pieces of wood — enough to bend them. This is art that doesn’t merely take the universe as its subject matter. It is the subject matter, in the flesh. Visit www.dorschgallery.com for more info, or call 305-576-1278.
Sept. 19-Oct. 4, 2008

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