Modern, Post War, & Contemporary: Art + Design
Mon, Jun 28, 2021 01:00AM EDT
Lot 73
JAMES WOODFILL / Freight House Prototype (1997)
Sold for
$900
Bid Increments
| Price | Bid Increment |
|---|---|
| $0 | $25 |
| $500 | $50 |
| $1,000 | $100 |
| $5,000 | $250 |
| $10,000 | $500 |
| $20,000 | $1,000 |
| $50,000 | $2,500 |
| $75,000 | $5,000 |
| $100,000 | $10,000 |
James Woodfill
(American, 20th/21st c.)
Signal Series prototype for Freight House, circa 1997
Mixed media sculpture with motor and flashing bulbs
78" x 40" x 24"
A steel framework with a five by five grid of flashing light bulbs, combined with an auditory component. The multi-sensory prototype was imagined as part of Woodfill's monumental light sculpture designs renovating Kansas City's historic Freight House. The Freight House, a notable former railroad building, was transformed in the latter half of the 1990s into facilities for Jack Stack Barbeque, Lidia's, and Grunauer. Woodfill's Signals are a uniquely varied category of his mechanical works that incorporate light and sound elements.
"Woodfill's eccentric light bulb sculptures give off a scratchy ersatz Latin beat, a great deal of ozone, and some of the most odd reaching and grasping of any mechanical contrivances this reviewer has yet seen... Some pieces whirr through the air on long cords, propelled by fans, others boast rows of blinking colored lights which hypnotize like warning signs at the edge of the highway. Somehow, among all this noisy, low-tech sparking, Woodfill had hit upon a combination that pushes the buttons of some of our profoundest human emotions: our childish fascination with things that move and blink with our fear of the automaton and the living dead" (Peter Von Ziegesar, New Art Examiner, 1992).
Literature for this work: Thorson, Alice. "Let There Be More Light," Kansas City Star, June 30, 1997. (Photographed)
Good condition. Fully working order, including all visual and auditory components. Some oxidation and abrasions to the steel face. The front of the base is bent.
(American, 20th/21st c.)
Signal Series prototype for Freight House, circa 1997
Mixed media sculpture with motor and flashing bulbs
78" x 40" x 24"
A steel framework with a five by five grid of flashing light bulbs, combined with an auditory component. The multi-sensory prototype was imagined as part of Woodfill's monumental light sculpture designs renovating Kansas City's historic Freight House. The Freight House, a notable former railroad building, was transformed in the latter half of the 1990s into facilities for Jack Stack Barbeque, Lidia's, and Grunauer. Woodfill's Signals are a uniquely varied category of his mechanical works that incorporate light and sound elements.
"Woodfill's eccentric light bulb sculptures give off a scratchy ersatz Latin beat, a great deal of ozone, and some of the most odd reaching and grasping of any mechanical contrivances this reviewer has yet seen... Some pieces whirr through the air on long cords, propelled by fans, others boast rows of blinking colored lights which hypnotize like warning signs at the edge of the highway. Somehow, among all this noisy, low-tech sparking, Woodfill had hit upon a combination that pushes the buttons of some of our profoundest human emotions: our childish fascination with things that move and blink with our fear of the automaton and the living dead" (Peter Von Ziegesar, New Art Examiner, 1992).
Literature for this work: Thorson, Alice. "Let There Be More Light," Kansas City Star, June 30, 1997. (Photographed)
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