Lens Flare Cluster
Artist
Eric Troffkin
(American, born 1967)
Date2012
MediumCast urethane plastic
Dimensions25 1/4 × 56 1/2 × 18 in. (64.1 × 143.5 × 45.7 cm)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineGift of the artist, 2019
Object numberUAC6687
DescriptionEric Troffkin’s opalescent cluster of interlocking, pastel-hued forms is undeniably dazzling—and kinetic. Faceted to simulate the princess, marquise, emerald, or briolette cuts typical of precious or semi-precious gems, the work’s meticulous production, shiny, glossy colors, and precise contours and edges give rise to an alluring array of forms. Whether suspended from the ceiling or attached to a steel armature (as in this version), a jostling, relief-like terrain is augmented by the phenomenon of intermittent lens flares, generated by glints of natural or artificial light and/or reflections that flash, flicker, and play across the surface. These capricious and ephemeral flare-ups mitigate the hard-edged forms, and while planned by the artist, in reality they produce surprising, beyond-the-hands-of-the-artist enhancements to his accumulation of polyhedral forms.Troffkin works in a range of three-dimensional media, including fabricated steel, cast plastics, and cast metals. He received his MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art and is an associate professor of sculpture at Wayne State University. Assessing the installation of Lens Flare Cluster, he notes that “I am excited about the idea that my work will be in the STEM building. Many of my interests connect to design, technology, and manufacturing. As an object maker, I am often trying to imitate the look of man-produced things.”
Text by Dennis Alan Nawrocki
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