Mark Prier

Artwork


Structures, 2008

Structures explores the vernacular of improvised architecture using locally available materials, such as brush and timber cut during road, trail, and farm maintenance.

Structure A was built in the Väskinde area of Gotland, Sweden using local woods cut by road crews during road maintenance along Själsöväg.

Structure B and Structure C take cut shrubs and trees, the byproducts of local Newfoundland roadwork and trail maintenance, and re-assemble them into an unstable geometric form inspired by local yard fences and vernacular structures.

Materials: various Gotlandic/Newfoundland woods, metal components.

A sculpture of mostly vertical tree branches, trimmed clean and bolted to a similarly constructed horizontal frame to create a shape like a drunken jail cell on four legs. It sits in a white-walled gallery with wooden ceiling beams. A sculpture of mostly vertical tree branches, trimmed clean and bolted to a similarly constructed horizontal frame to create a shape like a drunken jail cell on four legs. It sits in a white-walled gallery with wooden ceiling beams. A weathered waist-high plank fence horizontally crosses the foreground, long grass reaching up to nearly the same height before it. Behind the fence is a sculpture of mostly vertical tree branches, trimmed clean and bolted to a similarly constructed horizontal frame to create a shape like a drunken jail cell. A close-up view of a weathered waist-high plank fence horizontally crosses the foreground, long grass reaching up to nearly the same height before it. Behind the fence is a sculpture of mostly vertical tree branches, trimmed clean and bolted to a similarly constructed horizontal frame to create a shape like a drunken jail cell. An angled front view of a sculpture of tree branches bolted to a frame. The branches form the shape of two separate hexahedra: on some faces the branches are vertical, on others, horizontal. The hexadedra closest to the camera is much larger and more irregular in shape, while the one furthest away is more regular, like a slouching cube.
A side view of a sculpture of tree branches bolted to a frame. The branches form the shape of two separate hexahedra: on some faces the branches are vertical, on others, horizontal. The hexadedra closest to the camera is much larger and more irregular in shape, while the one furthest away is more regular, like a slouching cube. A front view of a sculpture of tree branches bolted to a frame. The branches form the shape of two separate hexahedra: on some faces the branches are vertical, on others, horizontal. The hexadedra closest to the camera is much larger and more irregular in shape, while the one furthest away is more regular, like a slouching cube. A detail of a sculpture of tree branches bolted to a frame. The branches form the shape of a hexahedra: on the visible faces, the foreground branches are horizontal, while the background branches are vertical. A angled front view of a sculpture of tree branches bolted to a frame. The branches form the shape of a small hexahedra: on some faces the branches are vertical, on others, horizontal. The sculpture resembles a slouching cube.