Emily Floyd, Steiner Rainbow 2006
In this video for the Gallery of Modern Art’s 5th birthday celebrations, Peter McKay, Curator of Contemporary Australian art, speaks about the changing significance of rainbows. Emily Flod’s sculpture draws inspiration from the philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, taking the small wooden sculptures used in Steiner/Waldorf schools and enlarging them. The scale is a little bigger than human, as you can see in the video.
As a Steiner graduate I immediately recognised this sculpture. At school there were many small wooden objects which we all played with, the rainbow was one. This sculpture draws our attention to colour and scale, as well as the relevance of rainbows (which McKay speaks about). Steiner Rainbow is large and imposing, but it also draws you in, irresistibly you have to walk around it. There are many ways this artwork could be displayed, just as when we were kids changing the angles of each colour arc. It’s temping to touch too and while I was in the gallery small children were encouraged not to touch the artwork, though you could tell they really wanted to. (This seems at odds with the intended use for small wooden rainbows but perhaps not contemporary art objects.)
An interview with Emily Floyd is available in the Hiede Museum’s Colour Bazaar: Nine Contemporary Works education resource here. Colour Bazaar was on display 12 February to 19 June 2011.
