John Atkin

This new stainless-steel sculpture the Silk Road was commissioned as part of the cultural aim for the first China Youth Games. And it was important that the sculpture articulated ideas relating to movement and athleticism. Although the Silk Road is not a reference to any one particular athletic ladder activity, it's its use of polished stainless steel. Surfaces imply a fast-tracking of eye movement. suddenly changes of direction a metamorphosis of form depending on viewer positioning: flow; rhythm; balance. This sculpture also articulates notions of cadence through the use of tensioning rods that allude to musical instruments

 

This sculpture also occupies a space without dominating it, allowing vistas through its forms onto the surrounding landscape, which might also be integral to the success of the artwork, where visitors on to the surrounding areas important.

 

The arc-like forms of the Silk Road can also be interpreted as framing devices that capture the busy urban landscape of the Fuzhou area, depending on the specific vantage point of the viewer. These arches also create an energy that drives the viewers eye through the landscape, connecting different junctures of place in time.