Queensland Art Gallery Presscuttings Book 10 : Record of press coverage, March 1982 - May 1984

,. I The Australian 26 May 1982 T Tapestry of frozen flight A FLIOHT of nine rlchly– colored kites hovers. frozen In the air, In the cavernous gymnasium of the City Art Insti- tute, a Sydney art college - the makeshift studio where one of the most Imaginative artworks yet con– cocted from the culture of Aus– tralia is slowly taking form . Here Peter Tra\'is. by training a pot– ter and musician. by trade a teacher of the "theory ol color", is assl'mbling a gigantic scul11tun• which will lorm the centrepiece of thf' new Qut>ens– land Art O!llll'ry. His construction will s1ian more than 45m and . join togNher music. sculpture and mathematics in an ever-changing whole. As people enter the new rallery they will be iaced with a first Impression ol Travis' momentous work. composed or immense ornamental kites which he 11rrlers to describe as "llyin11: geo– mrtric construrtlon.s". Travis ha.s devrlollf'd an id1osyn– crn.tlc approach to art since his child· hood days in the Sydnry suburb ol Manly; when his lile'11 work was laun• ched •by lrssons in macrame at the tender age or 31, by t'arly music les– sons and traininK on an f'ight-shaft loom at 12 years. · "Artists just a111ll'u.r Ill families, and all my inlluencl's ..,t•rrn to me to have played far less strong a shaping role than the ldras I ha\'e mvsl'lf." he ex- plained. · As· the construct 1011 01 the kites takf's form In the studio, with the colors and fabrics of thf'sl' abstract shapes belnit llnkrd together into a 1 vast tapestry, thr ldras or Peter Travis slowly take on substa,ce. When hung in the gallrry tlw kites will dominate a biK hall sur ,used with diffracted sunlight, bound ~d by walls of glass down which rourse running water, and a floor on which clear water lies on monumrntal slabs or Travertinr marble - the whole more than l(!Om long - for viewing from any vantage offered. "You will be able to look up at them, down at them, acro.ss them. through them - and as you descend the gal– lery stairs the tails or each kite will ome visible reflected In the glass, e seven huge banners." Travis said. ach of the nine kites is a const.clla- tion or diflerent hues, with bands or fabric shielding their bodies and draped from their tails likt> the plum- ! age or birds of paradise - and this ar– rangement allows thl' work to show the naturr of both transmitted and reflected color. Nor are the kites. with their mobile tails, their mathematically precise bodies, the whole of the work - the entire sculptu -~ encompasses the ex– hibition hall , .,,e renections. thr vlrw– ing perspectives, thr liirht. thr air anct flowing waters. · "This Is an Interaction betw1•en air and water - and the kit.cs are a mani– Ccstation or the wind, the air's physi– cal nature," Travis said. "!-'lying O\'er the water, they stop - with human vanity - to look at their own reflec– tion." This scul1>ture Is Intended to reflect such a frozen moment, the close rela– tion between the water and the air, which always receives a respop:¥! ,· .. - .... .,,. ,H•#O"""' I PETER TRAVIS and his kites. . "reality of tlw winrl itsl'lf." Picture by SU F: BROAl>Bf.NT KITES a • , • culphlre, kit~• •• multl•colored a • a collection ol 1l1antlc butterfllu In Dlsht, will form part of the new Queen • land Art Gallery's decor. NICHOLAS ROTHWELL talk • to Peter Travl • of Sydney who l • turnln1 hi • vi • lon for Brl • bane Into an lmaslnatlve reality at a Sydney art colle1e from the waters - whether ripples caused by a gentle breeze, or the vio– lent waves raised In strong winds. "There is an erotic association be– tween .the two - and here the kites stop to look, but the water Is reluctant to lose their image, so the kites are held forever in a crystalline struc– ture," he said. Fixed, they hang in three sha1les, all variants or the "elongated hexagon often found In the crystals formed by nature". Travis believes that in both art and nature angles are often repeated. through subconscious design and through formal necesstty. Music and mathematics share In the same con– nected logic. the instinctual geometry that has accompanied his work in weaving, fabric design anct musical composition. Nor are the kites merrly aerial sculptures - they have the desii::11 proJ)l'rties lo fly, and this stems from their designer's interest in the "kinetics of flight". As a long-term student of color, and "one who knows as much as most people about kites", Travis has elabo– rated the basic skills passed on to him by his rather, who built him a pair of kites during his childhood. "My main Influence has been nat- . ' ural geometry. I have always brt•n in – venting and desinglng nrw works. but I haven't followrd anyonr rlsc-·s work in kites. "Where the Jnpnnr.se kitc-builct,·rs are attempling to dispense with the tail-piece altogethrr. I have in ract built a tail that is highly aerodynami– cally efficient, ancl I see Lhc kite's body primarily ns a prop to lift up thr tails," Travis said. The human sensations he attribut,·s to the flight of the abstract shaprs - faintly resembling birds. luturisti,· space-craft or mathr11mtical rquaUnn curves - come from his own suhj,•c– tivc understanding ol lla• work : "I fee l these things In thr sculptun• hr– causc I have flown kites, and llll'se are the emotions that risr 111 mr. while I am Involved In their flight - and I have mountrcl prrformancrs. sp,•– cially chorl'Ogra phecl into a Skv Theatrr." · Since the origin ol kitrs lies In rl'li• glous ritual, in the CPremonial di'· spatching of messagr s Lo Lht' gods, Travis has spent months n•searching his subject in thr hintrrland nl Malaysia. when• the nalivrs build n special moon-kite to contact tlw spirits : "The ites I have built have a life force - they are flyini: ovrr an arra I.hat 1s w1111, 0 • ovrr 1•xp;u1s1•s ol eolorll'SS watl'r and tlu•y arC' caught," hr. said. In this lllOlllf'nl ut IHlrt'ISSISlll. \\'II It tlu• k ltrs 1:a1.l n1: dnwn 1111 Llw1r rt• · fll't:Lcct lll'a •1·, !Ill' l'O)0rs nl the strraniinl( hmi 111·rs nf tlll'ir tails. Lhl' sa nw ,·olnrs l,J1at l1 v,• 111 a11<1 i,:ivr• lile Lo n1nnin1: wat,•r. tllc· lilµlll of the nine• willµrd sculptlm•s 1s fro7,Cll . Thr first oft Ill' kll,•s IS tllr 1111\SL clrf'ply rolorrd. as II it l1;l!, lH'i,:Un LO1mhihr t.lll' Vil(Or of thr watrr bf'low, and its structure is mon• fully op,•ned. l11 a s1•1mratr 1·rnl11r1·. Travis is planll illµ to fly 1111' prototyJX'S or the kitrs t.haL w1ll 1:11 011 rxhib1Lion. and to record lht• Mlllll<iS ol thrir flight . "Wr will rirvl'lop musical strands from Lids sound. usinl( a computer sy:, l rn. sot.hat when Lhr virwrrs walk bc•1wath thrill thP musi1· will be- emit- I Lrd - and Ollf' will 1wvrr hr sure wht•lllf'r t.h,• klll's an• rryuii.: i11 a plra for relt•ns1• , nr s1•ncil11i,: out a sh11dd1•r ol plras urc• i11 l11r w111d." This tt•l'h111q11r will allow him tu rrcrrat,· tl11• sounds of kitf'-lly1ng lu·arcl Ill nalllrr - the "womlr rlul hums from tht• k1lr -stn11gs". thr "flapping noise• ol l11r fabrics". As Olli' watch!'s thr kilC'S brim( s hapc•d anct translornwct Into a uni– fif'<I objrct. '1t is plain L111• variations in llll! colors ol l':tt:11 , ·ulpLUrt' fo llow llH' clictntl's ol personal will , ol lntu1L1on . rather than tilt· 11mth1•111au1·al laws lhnl structu re cnlor prngn•ssltms. In this war. lhl'Ull~h LIii' )ll'r~nnal VI· si,111 ol P1•11•r Tra11.~. a111I aceord1n1: to llu· laws ol lnrrn th,· l:l1r, Ill tlu·ir lrn- 7.Cll motion arr l:tshlo1wd 1111 0 "the n•aliLv nt Llw wi11<11ts1:II " ,,