Peter Cripps towards an elegant solution - ACCA

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The display of art The diversity of Peter Cripps’ past activities as a curator, gallery director and publisher has influenced his practice. The institutions of the museum and modes of display have been pivotal interests explored in many of Cripps’ works made from the late 70s onwards. Cripps has continued to return to this interrogation of the museum’s neutrality in many of his object based installations. Larger works such as Another History for H.B. and R.L., continues Cripps’ interest in drawing attention to the physical and ideological space of the modern art museum, modes of display, and the way we interpret objects as art in these spaces. His works frequently mimic museum display techniques. The initials in the title refer to Bauhaus designer Herbert Bayer. Bayer’s exhibition design attempted to form a total space which would fully implicate viewers and lead them to a planned and direct reaction. Cripps responds to this by creating a spatial system of surfaces and supports that are completely visible. Alternatively absorbed or reflected by the installation’s surfaces, the viewer’s presence is necessary for the completion of the work. Another History for H.B. and R.L., 1991 masonite panels on wooden frames, mirror finish panels, steel legs, installed dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist and Anna Schwartz Gallery Field Theory, 1996 mirrors and synthetic polymer paint on wood 13 parts: overall dimensions variable Courtesy of the artist and Anna Schwartz Gallery Viewpoints Cripps challenges the traditional methods of displaying art by presenting works protruding from walls or ceilings, in his work Field Theory he places the art on the gallery floor thereby dispensing with the plinth all together. This subverts the way the viewer interacts with and views the works. Mirror works – construction series Courtesy of the artist and Anna Schwartz Gallery Real Objects in the World, 1993 Medium density fibreboard dimensions variable, individual objects approx. 180cm diameter Courtesy of the artist and Anna Schwartz Gallery Body and space Peter Cripps works predominantly by creating constructed installations. He has worked with mirrors, cardboard cylinders, tin cans, circular cardboard boxes, and wood. Cripps displays works in such a way that they are like an extension of pre-existing architectural structures, or situtates them within a space by linking them to the surrounding architecture. His concern is with the in-between spaces and how our bodies navigate and complete the gallery space. He often creates works to match the scale and height of his own body as demonstrated in the installation Real Objects in the World, a series of octagonal objects that hinder easy movement, and have no clear viewpoint. Visitors have to move around these octagonal forms, extending their perspective, and perceiving the objects and displays from all directions. acca education
Materials & Techniques Tinker Peter Cripps’ materials and techniques can be traced back to the influence of his family. Cripps’ father worked as a refrigerator repairman, as a child he would often accompany his father to supermarkets. Watching his father dissecting the refrigerators aroused his interest in investigating the way things work and how they are constructed. As a teenager he tinkered with scraps and metal off-cuts from his father’s tool shed to create moving mini steam engines. The artist’s mother took him to musical and theatre performances which inspired his interest in art theatre and set-design. Construct Continuing his interest in the construction of things, Cripps’ 1990’s series of free standing objects known as ‘Public Projects’ adhered closely to the Russian Constructivist ethos employed by Soviet artists such as Vladimir Tatlin. In 1920 Tatlin proposed a futuristic monument entitled 3rd International Tower, emphasising abstract geometric shapes and functional parts. The Constructivists believed that design began with construction, including industrial fabrication of materials. Building as object Public Project is an ongoing series of work ranging in size from small-scale works to large public sculptures. For this exhibition at the ACCA Cripps has created the first large-scale Public Project work realised. Over seven metres in height, the Public Project sculpture will be displayed on the Sturt Street forecourt of ACCA. Turning a quizzical eye — in the form of five convex mirrors — on the exterior of ACCA and its immediate neighbourhood, Cripps’ pair of big brotheresque mirror towers reflect the centre, a building which self-consciously declares itself ‘a sculpture in which to show art’, itself an offspring of monumental minimalism. Peter Cripps, Above and Below Ground Projects: Model, 1968, plated metal, brass, steel. Courtesy of the artist and Anna Schwartz Gallery Model for the 3rd International Tower, Vladimir Tatlin 1919-1920 Peter Cripps, Public Projects (Fiction), Series 2, II, 1993. Courtesy of the artist and Anna Schwartz Gallery acca education
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Peter Cripps towards an elegant solution - ACCA

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