Anthony Garner
CUBE: Descending the Escalator
Painted aluminum
2003 – 2005
How fitting, the artist thought, that in a place defined by travel, a person should be rewarded for the simple and necessary journey of going down an escalator or staircase. While the colorful segments in this sculpture intersect in different ways as one moves around and beneath them, it is when riding down the escalator that one sees the separate pieces align themselves into a cube, and then slide apart again. A visual puzzle, a trick of perspective, this installation was painstakingly created for this site, and if moved only a few inches, would fall out of its delicate perceptual balance. The momentary connection of these scattered elements into a solid cube will hopefully delight the weary traveler, and give new pleasure to a familiar activity. It may also leave us looking more closely for the unexpected and elusive in the world around us.
Albany International Airport Art & Culture Program 