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Campus Sculpture Tour Patrick Dougherty
HAT TRICK , 2003 Twisted but woven, entangled but gracefully bent—the branches of Patrick Dougherty’s Hat Trick maintain a taut poise. Dougherty says his works are “always in tension,” paused at the moment just before they would break. Yet such tension is perhaps the ultimate balance; the branches have reached their bending potential, defying their own logic by demonstrating a surprising strength. Fittingly, Hat Trick is constructed in the Holden Sculpture Courtyard enclosed by Bucksbaum Center for the Arts, a building dedicated to the creative process and constructed to facilitate artistic production and performance. Yet, ironically, as Dougherty himself says, the work “is in a fishbowl” —on view as a work of art as opposed to acting as a structure that people can enter and touch. Most of the artist’s works attempt to stir physical curiosity, drawing people off directed footpaths and onto—into—the site. In this way, Dougherty says, a structure becomes less of an Other, evoking personal associations and placing viewers “in relationship to the work.” Though he aims for such emotional, pointed responses to his structures, Dougherty says the pieces are often actually “happenstance” —the result of an interaction between spaces, materials, and ideas. The artist does often begin with a loose idea or inspiration in mind, but its form bends along with the branches of which the work is created. Dougherty’s sculptures are an exercise in awareness: the materials, the site, and the workers who create the piece all offer specific voices, needs, and possibilities. An effective final product, then, acts as visual evidence of the process by which all these voices were melded together. Hat Trick was originally inspired by African desert shade structures that are built by burying trunks of trees into the earth and then piling branches on top in an interwoven roof. Beginning with this basic concept, Dougherty visited the Grinnell site to familiarize himself with the space. Though a number of different locations were discussed, the arts faculty and staff of Grinnell encouraged use of Holden Courtyard to enliven the space. Like all of Dougherty’s structures, Hat Trick is made of local materials. This offers a “deeper connection to place and origin,” as well as producing a paradox: fallen branches are woven back together. Dead materials build new structures; the cycle of growth is reborn. It is not only the materials of Hat Trick that grew together in the process of its creation, but also its creators. Dougherty feels his sculptures provide “an excuse for participating in the world of ideas.” Volunteers who gather materials and build the structures come from all walks of life. Some arrive anxious, while others are intent on demonstrating their artistic finesse. No matter what the combination of characters, Dougherty’s crews produce a unique working situation with each and every sculpture. Hat Trick was mostly constructed by Dougherty with help from Faulconer Gallery Associate Director Dan Strong, a few students, and two community members. The title—like all of Dougherty’s titles—was a part of the work’s building process. The artist says he asks everyone involved in the process, “What do you think this should be called?” Grinnell College can thank Dan Strong for the title Hat Trick—an intentional play on words and form. The three structures encased in Holden Courtyard are pulled and curved by paradoxical pressure. “Intensity often engenders creativity,” Dougherty says. It is the intensity of Dougherty’s branches that defines their grace.About the Artist: Sculptor Patrick Dougherty received degrees in English (B.A., University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, 1967) and health (M.A., University of Iowa, 1969) before studying in the art department at the University of North Carolina in 1982. His complex woven structures have garnered him many honors, including the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Creative Artist Residency in Mexico, and NEA’s Creative Arts Fellowship in Japan. Since his first showing in the 1982 North Carolina Biennial Artists’ Exhibition, his work has exploded in size, complexity, and popularity. Currently, Dougherty has built more than 100 works throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. Essay by Miriam Stanton ‘05 |
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| last updated 5/25/06 | Copyright © 2006 Grinnell College Grinnell, Iowa 50112 | 641-269-4660 |
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