Working Model for Three Way Piece No.2: Archer 1964 is a bronze sculpture with smooth reflective surfaces comprising irregular rounded forms, sharp edges and points arranged into a seemingly organic, albeit abstract composition.
The sculpture is made up of two upright elements of roughly the same height – an elliptical, crooked column and a D-shaped wedge – connected in the middle by a curvaceous horizontal bridge that creates an arched space beneath (fig.1). The top of the column-like form is flat and smooth and appears truncated, while the bottom of the wedge-shaped form, which terminates in a sharp point, does not quite meet the base (fig.2).
Two cantilevered protrusions project from one side of the horizontal bridge at right angles to the other elements of the sculpture. One has a rounded elliptical face and emerges smoothly from the joint between the wedge and the bridge, while the other, which has a flat, circular face, extends out from a swelling close to the midway point of the crocked column (fig.3).
From the side it is clear that the wedge is tilted at a slight angle so that it is not entirely vertical (fig.4). Indeed, the asymmetrical composition of the sculpture, whereby different elements project and twist in different directions, imbues it with a sense of dynamic tension, counterbalanced by the structure and solidity provided by the combination of equally weighted vertical and horizontal forms.
From plaster to bronze
Sources and interpretations
The Henry Moore Gift
Alice Correia
September 2013
Notes