PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Tuscaloosa County Park & Recreation Authority
Contact: Beck Booker at bbooker@tcpara.org
or
The Arts Council of Tuscaloosa
Contact: Sandra Wolfe
director@tuscarts.org
PUBLIC ART INSTALLATIONS CONTINUE WITH SNOW HINTON KALEIDOSCOPE
(TUSCALOOSA, Ala.) The introduction of public art to the West Alabama community continues to emerge with the installation of “Kaleidoscope” by artist and UA Alumnus Eric Nubbe. Located in the northwest corner of Hinton Park on McFarland Blvd., the piece was commissioned by the Tuscaloosa County Park & Recreation Authority and installed by the UA Art Foundry. It represents the community’s commitment to bring stimulating and thought provoking art to local citizens in public areas.
Eric Nubbe is an emerging Alabama artist whose work primarily focuses on fabricating metal sculptures with a grounding in representation. The foundation of his work is craftsmanship, often employing 3D software to create innovative designs with simple plans. Nubbe believes the time spent on craftsmanship allows the materials of an artwork to transcend their physical properties, imbuing them with a piece of the artist’s humanity. His newest public sculpture, “Kaleidoscope,” exemplifies these characteristics.
According to the artist, “Kaleidoscope” is a colossal nonfunctional sextant, a traditional navigation instrument, housing a functional kaleidoscope. The viewer is invited to peer through a telescope-like view port housing the kaleidoscope into a refracted view of the atmosphere. Next to the view port is a dial allowing the viewer to manipulate a series of translucent blue gears that distort and augment their vision of the sky.
The sculpture thematically originates in Nubbe’s interest in navigation, specifically how each person navigates their life in a changing world. “This constant change can manifest into feeling adrift in life. “Kaleidoscope” is a direct response and push against this disorientation. Its purpose, as a represented sextant, is making each viewer a little less lost,” said the artist.
“Kaleidoscope” is the second public art piece presented to the community in local parks by PARA following the giant steel flowers created by student artists Ringo Lisko and Amber Daum in Monnish Park.
For more information about the project, visit art.ua.edu/category/news/.
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