Dunstable Reel 1970

Phillip King's sculpture 'Dunstable Reel' is, well, it's not painting, is it? But it kind of is; King's working with color and surface in a way that totally reminds me of working in the studio, playing with how colors bounce off each other. What I love about this piece is its clean simplicity; it’s just painted steel, right? But the shapes, the curves and sharp angles, make you think about space, about how you move around it. The colors, this kind of warm yellow and a deep red, they feel like they're pushing and pulling against each other. Look how the light catches the curves - that really brings out the volume. It’s so different from the kind of rough and ready surfaces that I go for in my own work, but there's something about the directness here that I really appreciate. I'm reminded a little of Anthony Caro's playful constructions; there's something of that experimental spirit. It's about making something out of nothing, turning raw materials into a new kind of experience. Ultimately, it's not about what it is, but what it does.