John Pickering
"Structure One"
Cardboard, plaster, acetate and steel wire, 46 cm x 36 cm x 14 cm, no date given.
INVERSION FROM A CYLINDER , THE CENTRE OF INVERSION NOT LYING ON THE CYLINDER , AND CONNECTING ELLIPSES , BY PROJECTIVE GEOMETRY . THE STRUCTURE IS MADE FROM CARDBOARD , PLASTER , ACETATE AND STEEL WIRE .
"Structure Two"
Cardboard, plaster, acetate and steel wire, 70 cm x 65 cm x 30 cm, no date given.
CYLINDER 'A' IS INVERSED W.R.T. A POINT LYING ON THE SURFACE. CYLINDER CL IS INVERSED W.R.T. A POINT NOT ON THE CYLINDER'S SURFACE . THE CYLINDER C`L` IS SUBJECT TO ROTATION AND REFLECTION TO PRODUCE TWO FURTHER CYCLIDES. THE STRUCTURE IS MADE FROM CARDBOARD AND GLASS .
"Structure Three"
Cardboard, plaster, acetate and steel wire, 80 cm x 40 cm x 25 cm, no date given.
SPHERICAL INVERSION. A NUMBER OF KISSING AND INTERSECTING SPHERES CONTAINED WITHIN A CYLINDER, INVERSED W.R.T. A POINT NOT LYING ON ANY OF THE SPHERES OR THE CYLINDER. THIS STRUCTURE IS MADE FROM CARDBOARD, PLASTER OF PARIS AND STEEL RODS .
John Pickering
JOHN PICKERING WAS BORN IN 1934 AND WAS EDUCATED IN CLASSICAL SCULPTURE .
DURING THE 1970's HE FOUND INTUITIVE ART , AS A VEHICLE FOR HIS IDEAS , INCREASINGLY INADEQUATE AND SO TURNED TO THE RIGOUR OF GEOMETRY , AND MORE SPECIFICALLY TO THE PRINCIPLE OF INVERSION , WHICH THEN BECAME THE BASIS OF MUCH OF HIS WORK .
EARLY INFLUENCES WERE GOTHIC CATHEDRALS , THE ARTISTS DONATELLO , MICHELANGELO , LEONARDO DA VINCI AND RODIN . LATER HE TURNED TO DUCHAMP , GABO , BUCKMINSTER FULLER , GAUDI AND CHRISTO . HE HAS ALSO BEEN INFLUENCED BY THE DESIGN OF MODERN AIRCRAFT , SPACE PROBES AND SATELLITES .
CLASSICAL MUSIC HAS ALSO BEEN A STRONG INFLUENCE , ESPECIALLY THAT OF THE SECOND VIENNESE SCHOOL AND STOCKHAUSEN .
GEOMETRY WAS SELF TAUGHT USING BOOKS SUCH AS :- GEOMETRY AND THE IMAGINATION , HILBERT AND COHN-VOSSEN . A BOOK OF CURVES , LOCKWOOD ORDER IN SPACE , KEITH CRITCHLOW . RECENTLY FRACTALS HAVE BECOME A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION .
HE DECIDED TO SHOW HIS WORK IN LONDON , FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 2002 , AT AN EXHIBITION AT THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF BRITISH SCULPTORS AND A SECOND EXHIBITION WAS THEN HELD IN THE SAME YEAR AT THE ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION , THEY ARE ABOUT TO PUBLISH A BOOK OF HIS WORK.